‘Divergent: Ascendant’ Cast Left Clueless About Fate in Franchise; Miles Teller Doubts Further Involvement as Peter Hayes

‘Divergent: Ascendant’ cast members are currently left clueless about their fate in the cinematic franchise based on the novels by Veronica Roth. Miles Teller recently expressed his own doubts on his further involvement as the character Peter Hayes.

According to Pop Sugar, Lionsgate announced plans of turning the final installment in the ‘Divergent’ cinematic franchise into a television film last July 20. The live-action series is based on Veronica Roth’s bestselling young adult novels of the same name. It premiered three out of the four films on the big screen.

‘Divergent’, the first installment released in 2014, grossed $276.01 worldwide on a production budget of $85 million. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, it was deemed commercially successful. Its sequel, ‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent’, was generally panned by critics but earned $295.27 million worldwide on a $110 million budget.

However, the third installment ‘The Divergent Series: Allegiant’ took the worst blow at the box office after earning only $171.48 million worldwide against a production budget of $110 million. It was heavily criticized by critics and became a financial disappointment. This prompted Lionsgate to do budget cuts and shift gears to the small screen.

Lead actress Shailene Woodley previously admitted during an interview at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con that she was equally surprised by the news of having the series’ final installment premiered on television instead of in theaters. She said, "We don't have any information. I think that came as a surprise to everybody." When asked about returning as Tris Prior, she replied, "The factors would be I need to know the details, in which case I know no details."

Co-Star Miles Teller also expressed doubt in returning as Peter Hayes. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Teller said, "It caught us all by surprise… At this point, it's a different set of circumstances… We'll see. I honestly haven't talked to anybody.”

He added, "Things do change anytime they're messing with something that was not the original intention… We all signed on for it in hopes that it'd be released in theaters, and we all had every intention of finishing [the franchise]."

During another interview with Variety, the 29-year old actor said that he unsure of his involvement in the franchise. He said, “I’ve talked to nobody… “I found out 20 minutes before Variety printed it.” He added, “When we all signed on for the first one we had every intention of finishing it theatrically… We signed on for x amount of movies and you take that all into consideration. We wanted to see that storyline finish. You know, it’s moving into a different format. So who knows?”

Teller admitted, “We all really enjoyed that time we spent together and those characters.” 

‘Divergent: Ascendant’ is a planned television movie scheduled to premiere on June 9, 2017. It is directed by Lee Toland Krieger based on the novel by Veronica Roth. It is produced under Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment, and Red Wagon Entertainment.