The Divergent franchise consists of three movies, all of which premiered one year after the other, making the order in which to watch Divergent, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, and The Divergent Series: Allegiant uncomplicated. Neil Burger directed the first film, while Robert Schwentke helmed the other two, but they were all produced by Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick, and Pouya Shabazian and based on one of Veronica Roth’s Divergent books. Similar to the movies, Roth published each installment in her Divergent trilogy annually, from 2011 to 2013, and didn’t make fans wait very long to find out what happened next.

The Divergent movies chronicle a dystopian future where the world is divided into five factions based on virtues — Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Abnegation contains the “selfless,” Amity refers to the “peaceful,” Candor is the “honest,” Dauntless is considered the “brave,” and Erudite features the “intelligent.” When a child turns 16, the government forces them to take an aptitude test informing them of their best-matched faction, but they get to pick their group at the Choosing Ceremony. However, some are factionless, while others whose test results show more than one faction are deemed Divergent (and a threat to the government).

The Divergent Movies In Release Order

The Divergent Film Series Began In 2015

Summit Entertainment bought the film rights to Veronica Roth’s Divergent book series in 2011, and the film production company immediately got to work developing a movie based on the first novel. Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor wrote a script based on the 2011 book, while casting for Divergent was finished by early 2013 and filming began in April 2013. Divergent ultimately earned mixed reviews upon its release but was a box-office success, resulting in two sequels — The Divergent Series: Insurgent and The Divergent Series: Allegiant — and three movies overall.

Following the success of the first installment, the studio went ahead with a sequel, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, which was also a commercial triumph. The third and final book, Allegiant, was initially titled The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1 as it covered the novel’s first half. However, the production studio later dropped the “Part 1” section of the title. The adaptation of Allegiant‘s second half (aka the fourth film) was renamed The Divergent Series: Ascendant, although it was never produced (more on that below). Consequently, the Divergent movies ended early.

The Divergent Movies In Chronological Order

The Chronological Order Is The Same As The Release Order

Thankfully, Divergent‘s timeline is linear, so, the chronological order to watch them is the same as the release order. Fans should start with Divergent (2014), which introduces the audience to a dystopian world separated by factions, followed by The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), and finish with The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016). Although Veronica Roth never specified what year the Divergent franchise takes place, the films claim it’s 3079, more than 1,000 years into the future. Additionally, despite Tris’ drastic hair growth between the second and third Divergent movies, the trilogy occurs over the course of around five and a half months.

How Divergent’s Canceled Movie & TV Show Would Have Fit Into The Franchise’s Timeline

Divergent 4 Was Supposed To Premiere In 2017

As mentioned above, the final Divergent movie was canceled, while a potential spinoff TV series was also nixed. So, the film franchise ended unfinished with The Divergent Series: Allegiant as the last installment. The third movie received the worst reviews out of the trilogy and was considered a box office bomb, as it only grossed $179.2 million against an estimated budget of $110–142 million. Additionally, some cast members, like Shailene Woodley, weren’t interested in making a fourth film if it wasn’t a theatrical release. As a result, the Divergent franchise concluded on a cliffhanger with Allegiant.

The Divergent Series: Ascendant would have picked up right where The Divergent Series: Allegiant left off and adapted the second half of the last book in Veronica Roth’s trilogy. Not much is known about the spinoff TV show (which Starz was developing), but it sounded like the idea was for it to follow new characters in the franchise and have it take place after The Divergent Series: Ascendant. Nevertheless, the fourth movie and TV series were canceled, so, fans just have the first three Divergent films to watch.