As with pretty much all YA adaptations, one needs a member of the opposite sex to star alongside its lead. Following The Twilight Saga — where this aspect is exploited to its fullest extent — Summit Entertainment is now looking for a male star opposite The Descendants‘ Shailene Woodley for the sci-fi project Divergent.
As we know, Woodley (who is also set for The Amazing Spider-Man 2) is leading Limitless helmer Neil Burger‘s adaptation based on Veronica Roth‘s novel. Now Deadline has some news on the possibilities for who could join her, as four up-and-comers have tested in “chemistry” readings with Woodley.
Although no one has come out on top, the actors include Brenton Thwaites (who is starring opposite Angelina Jolie in the upcoming Maleficent), X-Men First Class and Stoker star Lucas Till, Monte Carlo‘s Luke Bracey, as well as Jack Reynor, who led the TIFF drama What Richard Did (which we quite liked) and joins Vince Vaughn in the upcoming comedy The Delivery Man.
I’d be content with any of these young stars, but with a March 21st, 2014 release date looming, expect a decision to come in shortly. In the meantime, check out a synopsis of the first novel below via Amazon.
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.
Who would you want to see take the lead male role?