‘Divergent’ Finale ‘Ascendant’ Finds New Director

Moving fast after Robert Schwentke dropped out of Ascendant, Lionsgate/Summit has found a new helmer to tackle the final installment in the Divergent franchise.

Age of Adaline director Lee Toland Krieger is in negotiations to board the film, which stars Shailene Woodley. Lucy Fisher and Doug Wick are producing.

Schwentke directed the last two Divergent movies, Insurgent and the upcoming Allegiant.

But Schwentke insiders say he exited Ascendant because he needed a break after doing the two films back to back and wanted to spend more time with his family in Los Angeles rather than go back to Atlanta. Production on the fourth and final Divergent film is scheduled to start in Atlanta in the summer. 

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Theo James, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller also star in in the movie series that is based on the best-selling YA novels by Veronica Roth. Naomi Watts also is onboard for Ascendant, which closes out the four-movie franchise. The two previous Divergent films have earned $586 million worldwide at the box office, with the first pic helmed by Neil Burger, who was replaced by Schwentke.

The third chapter, Allegiant, is set to open March 18. The studio moved fast to replace Schwentke and is expected to keep Ascendant‘s current release date of June 9, 2017.

Krieger wrote and directed The Vicious Kind, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best screenplay. He then directed Celeste and Jesse Forever, based on a script written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, which starred Jones and Andy Samberg. That movie also premiered at Sundance.

Krieger, who is repped by UTA, Anonymous Content and attorney George Davis, last directed 2015’s Age of Adaline, which starred Blake Lively and Harrison Ford.