Picturestart grabs rights to new novel from Divergent author Veronica Roth

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The past decade has seen the rise of fall of YA film franchises, and some were certainly more successful than others. Arriving just two years after the release of THE HUNGER GAMES was DIVERGENT, a dystopian sci-fi film based on the novel by Veronica Roth. While the film wasn't quite as successful as THE HUNGER GAMES, it did well enough to warrant a few sequels before it petered out; more on that later.

Veronica Roth is back with a new novel, this time aimed at adults, and THR has reported that Picturestart has already snagged the rights to "Chosen Ones." The company is run by Erik Feig, who, when he was the head of Summit Entertainment, was the one to acquire the rights to "Divergent" back in the day. The story takes place in Chicago, after the existence of magic has been proven to be real, and follows Sloane Andrews, one of five ordinary teenagers who were prophesied to defeat a villain known as the Dark One more than a decade ago. As adults, the "Famous Five" now deal with PTSD, media scrutiny, and the chance that the Dark One might not have been entirely defeated.

Getting back to the DIVERGENT franchise, the series never had the chance to conclude has Summit Entertainment made the choice to split the last novel into two-parts, as was the style at the time. THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT was intended to be the first part of the finale, but the second part was cancelled after ALLEGIANT turned out to be a critical and commercial disappointment. There was talk of continuing the story as a TV series, but that project was also cancelled.

A synopsis of "Chosen Ones" via Amazon:

Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice—catastrophic events known as Drains—leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him. After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal . . . for everyone but them. After all, what do you do when you’re the most famous people on Earth, your only education was in magical destruction, and your purpose in life is now fulfilled? Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting. Everyone else blames the PTSD—and her huge attitude problem—but really, she’s hiding secrets from them . . . secrets that keep her tied to the past and alienate her from the only four people in the world who understand her. On the tenth anniversary of the Dark One’s defeat, something unthinkable happens: one of the Chosen Ones dies. When the others gather for the funeral, they discover the Dark One’s ultimate goal was much bigger than they, the government, or even prophecy could have foretold—bigger than the world itself. And this time, fighting back might take more than Sloane has to give.

"Chosen Ones" is slated to be released on April 7th.