With Twilight finished, Summit Entertainment is keen to get back into the young adult business and is throwing their weight behind Divergent, based on the first book in Veronica Roth’s planned dystopian trilogy. Descendants star Shailene Woodley is already attached to the lead role, and now Variety reports she’s likely to be joined by Kate Winslet.
Divergent, which has inevitably drawn comparisons to The Hunger Games, is about a 16-year-old girl named Beatrice Prior, who lives in a society divided into five factions, each based on a different virtue: honesty, selflessness, bravery, peacefulness, and intelligence. Beatrice must choose which faction she wants to try and join, and starts training in order to enter.
There’s no word on which role Winslet is in talks to play, although it’s likely to either be Tris’ mother, Natalie Prior, or Jeanine Matthews, the leader of the Erudite faction.
We reported a few weeks ago that Alex Pettyfer, Lucas Till and Jeremy Irvine were up for a major male role in the movie (presumably Four, Tris’ trainer), but the latest Variety report suggests they’re now out of the running as the studio is looking for someone a tiny bit older to take on the role.
Neil Burger is directing the movie, which should go into production later this year.