It happened swiftly and quietly, what was once a box office hit became a box office flop, leaving those who can remember wondering — what happened to those “Divergent” films?
Following the global success of “Harry Potter” and “Twilight”, studios ran to the nearest bookstore to find the next young adult series they could turn into a movie franchise. Out came, “The Hunger Games”, “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner.” They were making money, had massive fan bases and showed promise for a compelling franchise, but unfortunately as quickly as YA films came, they went. One series didn’t even properly wrap up.
It was “Divergent”, so if you’re wondering what happened to those films the answer is they never released the last film.
Was “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” a two-time miracle, or are there specific reasons for why the YA genre has all but disappeared.
Here’s a look at some potential explanations for what happened to YA films.
Too Much of the Same Thing
The films mentioned were not just picked because they were the biggest examples, but also because they showcase one of the biggest problems with YA films. It’s all the same. If you’ve seen all three films the similarities are painfully obvious, all three take place in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian world where the government is corrupt and it’s up to teenagers to save the day. Two of the films feature zombie-like creatures, and two of them feature a special group of people the government wants to weed out. Two films also have the government putting teenagers in a deadly simulated environment and watch them as they fight to survive. Once is good, twice is fine, three times is far too many to see the same concepts just with a few tweaks here and there. Originality always wins in the end, and these films lacked it.
Bad Reviews
In the age of social media, word of mouth and critic reviews can make or break a movie. Some YA films maintain good to average critical scores throughout their run, and others were just bad from the get go.
Rotten Tomato Review Score
- “The Hunger Games”: 84%
- “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”: 90%
- “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1”: 69%
- “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: 70%
- “Divergent”: 42%
- “The Divergent Series: Insurgent”: 28%
- “The Divergent Series: Allegiant”: 11%
- “The Maze Runner”: 65%
- “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials”: 46%
- “Maze Runner: The Death Cure”: 43%
YA films just have a bad reputation when it comes to reviews, audiences don’t want to see bad movies and studios don’t want to make them.
Poor Box Office
There are many driving forces towards making a movie, and the biggest is money. In times when Walt Disney Studios is making a few billion dollars a year, studios are aiming to make movies to compete and make them just as much (with the exception of horror and indie films). For a time YA films did just that, and then they didn’t.
YA Box Office Gross (Worldwide) via Box Office Mojo
- “The Hunger Games”: $694,394,724
- “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”: $865,011,746
- “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1”: $753,356,711
- “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2”: $658,344,137
- “Divergent”: $288,885,818
- “The Divergent Series: Insurgent”: $297,002,527
- “The Divergent Series: Allegiant”: $179,246,868
- “The Maze Runner”: $348,319,861
- “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials”: $312,296,056
- “Maze Runner: The Death Cure”: $288,175,335
Why didn’t “Divergent” make the last film? It was because of the poor box office performance of “Allegiant”. Soon enough it was clear that YA films weren’t the big hits they used to be, truly marking the end of the genre.
There have been more attempts at YA films with “The Darkest Minds” and “Mortal Engines”, but unfortunately both films were critically panned and turned out to be major box office bombs. The YA genre may not work with film, but it’s certainly making its mark in TV with “Riverdale” and Netflix’s new show “Outer Banks.” Maybe YA does have a home after all.