Insurgentby Aly Runke, contributing writer

The  young adult (YA) dystopian novel, Divergent, was adapted into a movie this past spring and took the box office by storm. The trilogy by Veronica Roth had already gained quite a following in the YA book world, and anticipation was high for the first movie and over all eagerly anticipated. Many fans loved the casting, the screenwriting, well basically everything. Lionsgate produced Divergent and this week they started filming Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent. Insurgent will follow the events of the second book by Roth, continuing the adventure of Tris and Four.

At the L.A. Times Festival of Books in April, Roth told a packed auditorium what it was like for her to write Insurgent, or any second book really, “I’m a tidier-upper, like a neat kind of perfectionist person, and in the second book, you’ve got to make things messy.” Fans of the series look forward to seeing this “mess” on screen. Fans of the book cannot wait to see more of this beloved trilogy on screen, and movie fans await the continuation of Tris and Four’s adventure.

Lionsgate is filming Insurgent in Atlanta, Georgia after having filmed Divergent in Chicago. Neil Burger, the director of the first film was a huge advocate of filming in the book’s original location of Chicago but without his return for Insurgent, the team has moved locations. Atlanta was chosen because of its prices, which are considerably lower than many other popular locations for both filming and actors’ salary. Not to mention Atlanta boasts being the locale of successful endeavors on both television and the silver screen, such as The Walking Dead and Catching Fire.

The original cast will be returning to Insurgent, with Shailene Woodley as Tris Prior, Theo James as Four, Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior, and Kate Winslet as Jeanine, among others. Working with the Divergent franchise has brought much acclaim to these actors; Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort will be starring this June in another YA adaptation, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. And joining this all-star cast for Insurgent is a familiar face in book-to-movie adaptation casts: Octavia Spencer as Johanna. Spencer is well-known for her amazing performance as Minny Jackson in The Help in 2011. Also joining the cast are Mekhi Pifer as Max, Ben Lamb as Edward, and Rich Graff as Aenaes.

We’ll be keeping an eager eye out for more news from the set of Insurgent!

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SCIFI Radio Staff

SCIFI Radio Staff

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