"Divergent: Ascendant," the fourth and final film for the film series based on the books by Veronica Roth, is now facing production issues. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the film is getting its budget cut down. According to the report, this is mostly due to the lackluster box-office performance and critical rating of the recently released third enty, "Divergent: Allegiant."
"The budget for the next one will be reduced compared to the previous film," explains the report's unidentified source. "They haven't said by how much."
It is hinted that the budget is being cut signfiicantly by a few million dollars, although no specific number or range has yet been announced. According to the report, the budget for the latest entry was $110 million. The script for the upcoming film, meanwhile, is still being written and no final budget has been posted.
This is a little concerning for fans as production for the final film is scheduled to begin this summer.
According to the report, the franchise has proven to be a disappointment for Lionsgate, given that they were expecting the same level of success previously achieved by "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games."
Instead, the first film opened to only $54 Million domestically and the second film opened to $52.2 Million. The third film, which launched last week, opened to only $29 Million. It is expected that its total worldwide gross will barely be able to make ends meet considering the film had a $110 Million budget.
The report also points out that this has happened to Lionsgate before. "The Hunger Games" also saw a major drop in its box-office success although the difference is that "The Hunger Games" started particularly strong and that the drop did not hurt the studios all that much, unlike the "Divergent" series, which had a very weak beginning.
"Divergent: Ascendant" will be released in 2017.
