In 2016, the third instalment in The Divergent Series was released in cinemas. Allegiant (dir. Robert Schwentke), in all regards, was a terrible movie. A dull, misshapen and stagnant adaptation of an already controversial Young Adult novel. In fact, the magnitude of its failure led to the ending of the whole Divergent franchise, with the fourth and final film- Ascendant being pulled from production before the year was even out. Along with the triumphant disaster of the Divergent series, as well as a slew of other failed franchises from Beautiful Creatures (2013) to Vampire Academy (2014), it appeared that the YA fantasy movie adaptation was yet another ‘dead horse’ genre being beaten into a bloody pulp by the Hollywood higher-ups, with nothing even comparing to the success of both The Twilight Saga (2008-12) and The Hunger Games film franchises (2012-15).
