Is Divergent Suffering from Sequel Bloat?

Once upon a time, film franchises based on young-adult novel series seemed like gold mines with no limit on the riches they'd yield, but that time appears to be fading into the past. The recent disappointing performance of The Divergent Series: Allegiant suggests that the hunger for an unending supply of YA sequels may finally be satisfied.

Studios' attempts to split book series into the maximum number of films, and thereby maximize profits, began with the Harry Potter film franchise, in which the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was divided into two films. The same formula was followed for The Hunger Games franchise, and Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Hobbit went even further, dividing the relatively slim book into three mammoth films.

The problem is, the resulting dilution of the franchises appears to be creating fatigure in audiences. The final two Hunger Games films did not perform up to the financial standards set by the first two films in the franchise, and The Hobbit also saw diminishing returns with its second and third parts.

After the relative success of its first film, the Divergent franchise jumped on the dilution bandwagon, announcing that the novel trilogy's third book would be split into two films before it was even clear that the film franchise had a solid fan base. The second film did not perform as well as the first, however, and the third film, which was released just last week, far underperformed even the second film in its debut. Now reports say that Lionsgate, the studio behind the franchise, has significantly cut the budget for the franchise's fourth and final installment, suggesting that the studio may be learning the lesson that more isn't necessarily better.