This is what Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has wrought.  From now on, the final chapter of every major franchise will be split in two.  Mark my words: Eventually the adaptation of the final book in a trilogy will be split into thirds.  Xzibit will have to appear before every franchise and say, "I heard you like trilogies so I put a trilogy inside your trilogy."  The latest franchise to get the split treatment is Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent trilogy.  It's not a surprising move.  Lionsgate split the final Twilight book—Breaking Dawn—into two parts and they're doing the same thing with Mockingjay, the finale of the Hunger Games series.  You have to milk these franchises for all their worth even though I have yet to hear a single good thing about Allegiant.

Hit the jump for the press release regarding the Allegiant movie split.  The next installment, Insurgent will open on March 20, 2015.  Allegiant – Part 1 will be released March 18, 2016 and Allegiant – Part 2 will open on March 24, 2017.

allegiant-movie

Here's the press release:

THIRD BOOK IN VERONICA ROTH’S BLOCKBUSTER DIVERGENT TRILOGY, ALLEGIANT,

WILL BE PRODUCED AND RELEASED AS TWO SEPARATE FILMS 

Allegiant -- Part 1 To Be Released on Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment Label On March 18, 2016;

Allegiant -- Part 2 To Arrive in Theatres Nationwide on March 24, 2017 

SANTA MONICA, CA, and VANCOUVER, BC, April 11, 2014 – Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, will produce and release Allegiant, starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James and based on the third book in Veronica Roth’s best-selling Divergent trilogy, as two separate films, it was announced today by Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger.  The Company will release a total of four Divergent films on its Summit Entertainment label, with the next film, Insurgent, which begins production next month, slated for release on March 20, 2015 and Allegiant -- Parts 1 & 2 scheduled for release on March 18, 2016, and March 24, 2017, respectively.

The first film in the Divergent franchise is off to a fast start, grossing $117 million at the domestic box office in its first three weeks of release, and it continues its international rollout this weekend with openings in France, Germany, Russia, Australia, Scandinavia and other major territories.  Book sales of the best-selling Divergent series continue to skyrocket with total sales nearing 20 million worldwide and sales of the three-book boxed set and three-book e-bundle increasing 55% last week.  The three books ranked one-two-three on the USA Today best-seller list for 2013.

“Veronica Roth brings her captivating story to a masterful conclusion in Allegiant, a rich, action-packed book with material that is ideally suited to two strong and fulfilling movies,” said Friedman and Wachsberger.  “The storytelling arc and world of the characters lend themselves perfectly to two films, a storytelling strategy that has worked very well for us on the two Twilight Breaking Dawn films and about which we’re tremendously enthusiastic for the two upcoming Mockingjay films of The Hunger Games franchise.”

The Company’s The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga franchises have collectively grossed more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the 10th highest-grossing film of all time.  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Parts 1 & 2 will be released on November 21, 2014 and November 20, 2015, respectively.

After the cataclysmic events in Insurgent, Tris and Four enter a dangerous new world in Allegiant -- Parts 1 & 2 that they no longer recognize.  As new truths are revealed about the past and future, Tris must face impossible choices about courage, allegiance and love to protect the people closest to her.