'Divergent' Sequel 'Insurgent' Lands Robert Schwentke as Director

When Gary Ross left The Hunger Games and passed the reins over to Francis Lawrence, many were worried there would be a drop in quality. But it turns out that Catching Fire was actually an improvement, and the franchise is now considered to be in good hands for the long haul. The same situation could be happening for Divergent, which doesn't open for a month but already has seen Neil Burger decide not to return for the sequel, Insurgent. With pre-production set to begin soon, Summit Entertainment has found Burger's replacement.

Summit has announced Red and RIPD director Robert Schwentke for Insurgent, based on the second book in Veronica Roth's YA trilogy. Akiva Goldsman is penning the script based on an initial screenplay by Brian Duffield, and of course Shailene Woodley is expected to return as Beatrice "Tris" Prior. Schwentke is picking up on a production that has been operating on a condensed time frame. Burger's continued efforts to finish up Divergent is starting to bleed over into Insurgent's pre-production, meaning Schwentke is going to need to jump right in as soon as possible.

Schwentke probably doesn't seem like the most obvious choice for a film like this but I would point to German thriller Tattoo and Flightplan as examples of his greater range.  Insurgent is scheduled to be released on March 20th 2015, and if it does well maybe Schwentke will be back for Allegiant in 2016.