Production on Allegiant Part 1 Officially Commences TODAY!

Lionsgate has just sent out a press release announcing the start of production of Allegiant Part 1 TODAY, unlike 5/18 as it was originally thought. See below for the statement:

PRODUCTION ON ALLEGIANT – PART 1, 

THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THE DIVERGENT FRANCHISE, COMMENCES TODAY

Santa Monica, CA – May 20, 2015 – Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) announced today that principal photography has commenced in Atlanta on the feature film adaptation of THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT – PART 1, the third installment of the blockbuster DIVERGENT action adventure franchise, starring Golden Globe® nominated Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer, and Academy Award® nominated Naomi Watts.  Golden Globe® nominated Jeff Daniels joins the cast.  Returning cast members include Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Keiynan Lonsdale and Jonny Weston, as well as Mekhi Phifer and Daniel Dae Kim.  Other new cast members also include Nadia Hilker and Bill Skarsgård. Based on author Veronica Roth’s New York Times best seller, the film is being directed by Robert Schwentke from a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim and Adam Cooper & Bill Collage and Stephen Chbosky.  Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing the film through their Red Wagon Entertainment banner along with Pouya Shahbazian.  Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are executive producing through their Mandeville Films banner along with Barry Waldman and Neil Burger.  Lionsgate will release ALLEGIANT – PART 1 theatrically in North America through its Summit Entertainment label on Friday, March 18, 2016.

After the earth-shattering revelations of INSURGENT, in Allegiant Part 1 Tris (Shailene Woodley) must escape with Four (Theo James) beyond the Wall that encircles Chicago to finally discover the shocking truth of what lies behind it.

The Divergent series of books were written by Veronica Roth and have been perennial New York Times best-sellers since 2011. Book sales of the “Divergent” trilogy have surged to over 34 million copies worldwide, up from 17 million at the time of DIVERGENT’s March 21, 2014 release.  Allegiant sold 455,000 copies on its first day of release in 2013 to break a company record for Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Publishers. Pre-orders for Allegiant exceeded those of any book in the history of HarperCollins.

The first two DIVERGENT films have grossed more than $550 million at the global box office and are Lionsgate’s highest-grossing films domestically outside THE HUNGER GAMES and TWILIGHT franchises.

The fourth installment in the series, ALLEGIANT – PART 2, is slated for release on March 24, 2017.

Erik Feig, Co-President of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, Gillian Bohrer, Lionsgate’s EVP of Production & Development, and Matt Janzen, Lionsgate’s VP, Production & Development, are overseeing the project for the studio.

To stay connected with all updates related to the film, follow the official Twitter handle (www.twitter.com/Divergent) and like the movie’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Divergent).