The Divergent novels ride on the wave of popularity of Young Adult fiction born from the success of Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games. Studios have sunk their claws into the genre in hopes of creating a new money making blockbuster that will appeal to kids these days. But one wonders, if superhero films are the “it genre,” can any Young Adult film adaptation hope to reach the height of popularity of JK Rowling’s books and related media?

That seems to be the problem with the Divergent movies, themselves adapted from a series of relatively popular Young Adult novels. This is nothing new, with books like The Maze Runner and Eragon receiving film adaptations, courtesy of Hollywood. Such movies have received varying degrees of success, with surprise hits and box office failures. Unfortunately for Divergent, the movies have seen diminishing returns compared to the expanding budgets of each subsequent film. The most recent film couldn’t even make back twice its $110 million budget, with a worldwide box office of just $179.2 million. It seems that for that reason, the studio is looking to turn the final film into a TV movie, followed by a TV show, which we presume would have a small budget.

You know your film is in dire straits when it’s moved from the theatres to a TV release. Such productions tend to look cheap, and demonstrate a lack of confidence from the studio. Even worse for the final film, Shailene Woodley has stated she’s not interested in doing TV.

“Last I heard they were trying to make it into a television show. I didn’t sign up to be in a television show. Out of respect to the studio and everyone involved, they may have changed their mind and may be doing something different, but I’m not necessarily interested in doing a television show.”

Does this necessarily mean that she won’t appear in the TV movie? We don’t know. It’s possible that her contract could allow for an exit from the final film. IT’s only speculation at this point. Either way, things don’t look good for Ascendant.