Greg Baxter Popular Books

Greg Baxter Biography & Facts

Divergent is a 2014 American dystopian science fiction action film directed by Neil Burger, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Veronica Roth. The film is the first installment in The Divergent Series and was produced by Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, and Pouya Shahbazian, with a screenplay by Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Tony Goldwyn, Ansel Elgort, and Maggie Q. The story takes place in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic Chicago where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Beatrice Prior is warned that she is Divergent and thus will never fit into any one of the factions. She soon learns that a sinister plot is brewing in the seemingly perfect society. Development of Divergent began in March 2011 when Summit Entertainment picked up the film rights to the novel with Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher's production company Red Wagon Entertainment. Principal photography began April 16, 2013, and concluded on July 16, 2013, with re-shoots taking place from January 24–26, 2014. Production mostly took place in Chicago. Divergent was released on March 21, 2014, in the United States. The film received mixed reviews: although its action sequences and performances, notably Woodley's, were praised, critics deemed its execution and handling of its themes to be generic and unoriginal, and compared it unfavorably to other young adult fiction adaptations. The film grossed $288.9 million worldwide against its budget of $85 million. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 5, 2014. A sequel, Insurgent, was released on March 20, 2015, in the United States and other countries. A third film, Allegiant, was released on March 18, 2016. Plot In a future dystopian Chicago, society has been divided into five factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. The remaining population, the Factionless, have no status or privilege. Upon turning sixteen, children undergo a serum-induced psychological aptitude test which indicates their best-suited faction, but can choose any faction as their permanent group at the subsequent Choosing Ceremony. Beatrice Prior was born and raised into Abnegation, which runs the government. Her father, Andrew, serves on the ruling council along with Abnegation's leader, Marcus Eaton. After her test results show equal attributes of multiple factions- Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless- making her Divergent, her proctor Tori Wu, a Dauntless woman, records her results as Abnegation. Tori warns her to conceal her true results and says that because Divergents can think independently and sense any serums injected into them, the government feels they threaten the existing social order. The next day, at the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice's brother Caleb chooses Erudite, while, after some hesitation, she chooses Dauntless. Afterwards, she meets Christina, Al, and Will, three other faction transfers to Dauntless. Christina and Al are from Candor, and Will is from Erudite. Eric Coulter, a brutal Dauntless leader, reminds the initiates that anyone not meeting the faction's high expectations of commitment and fearlessness will become Factionless. Beatrice volunteers to jump from a tall building into a dark hole and lands into a net. When Four, a transfer initiates' instructor, asks her name, she shortens it to "Tris", shedding her earlier identity. Tris initially struggles in Dauntless training and ranks far below the cutoff after the first evaluation, but with Four's help, she slowly improves. Eric matches her against her nemesis, Candor transfer Peter Hayes, in a fight, which ends with Tris being defeated and in the infirmary. Unwilling to miss the most important test, Capture The Flag, she leaves the infirmary, joins the other initiates, secures her team's victory, and makes the final cut. In the next phase of training, the initiates face their worst fears in psychological simulations. Tris's divergence allows her to creatively solve the tests, but Four warns her to hide her abilities and to solve them as a normal Dauntless would. Tris visits Caleb, who tells her that Erudite plans to overthrow Abnegation. When she returns, Al, Peter, and their fellow Candor transfer Drew attack her before Four rescues her. The next day, Al begs Tris to forgive him but she refuses and calls him a coward. He later kills himself by jumping into "The Pit", rather than live with the shame. To prepare her for the final test, Four takes Tris into his own fear simulations, where she learns he is Tobias Eaton, and his father Marcus used to beat him as a child. Tris then passes her test and officially joins Dauntless. The other Dauntless are injected with a serum from Erudite, supposedly for tracking but actually for mind control. The next morning, the Dauntless prepare to execute Abnegation under Erudite's orders. As the serum fails on Divergents, Tris must blend in to avoid suspicion. She finds Four, who reveals himself to be Divergent. When the Dauntless move to raid Abnegation, the pair separate from the group and attempt to locate Tris's parents, but Eric, realizing Four is not under control, captures both of them, taking Four into custody and ordering Tris's execution. Her mother Natalie appears and saves her but is shot and killed as they attempt escape. Tris finds her father hiding with Caleb, Marcus, and several Abnegation members. The group sneaks into Dauntless headquarters, where Tris encounters Peter and forces him to lead them to Erudite's control center. Her father sacrifices himself in a shootout, and Tris goes in alone to find Four, who is now under stronger mind control designed for Divergents. Knowing his fears, she manages to wake him from the mind control, and both enter the central control room, where Erudite's leader Jeanine Matthews nearly has Dauntless execute the entire Abnegation faction. Tris uses a sample of the mind control serum on her to force her to cancel the program. The group escapes the compound and boards a train out of the complex. Cast Production Pre-production In March 2011, Summit Entertainment picked up the rights for Divergent with Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher's production company Red Wagon Entertainment. Neil Burger was announced as the director on August 23, 2012. Evan Daugherty, who co-wrote the screenplay with Vanessa Taylor, said, "I get hung up on the toughness of the movie but of equal importance is the love story between Tris and Four. It's inherently and inextricably linked to Tris's character journey. There will be plenty of sexual tension and chemistry, but it's important that all of that stuff doesn't just feel like it's thrown in, but that it all helps Tris grow as a character." Daugherty further added, "It's tricky because the book is a very packed read with a lot of big ideas. So, distilling that into a cool, faithful two-hour movie is challenging. Not only do you have to establish five f.... Discover the Greg Baxter popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Greg Baxter books.