'Divergent' trailer is an intense ride

Posted Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 5:21 PM Central

by John Couture

Everyone is looking for "the next Hunger Games" and so far, everyone is failing. There's one film though that I do think has a shot at making a case for being "the next Hunger Games." That film is Divergent.

It's a series of three books (hmm, where have I heard that before?) set in a dystopian future (yep) where they don't pull any punches and numerous kids and teens are killed without remorse (sounds dead on, no?). While I thought the similarities were pretty apparent, I was much more impressed after reading the book. I'm currently half-way through the second book Insurgent and much like Catching Fire was to The Hunger Games, the second book is better than the first.

It boggles my mind that the Veronica Roth is only 25 years old. On one hand, I feel really old and on the other, I feel that the lead character, a strong teen girl played in the film by Shailene Woodley, is authentic given the author's age.

Whether Divergent will follow through on its high expectations is still to be determined, but after watching today's trailer, I'm more convinced than ever that it has the potential to be a huge box office performer. What do you think?

Divergent is set to hit theaters on March 21, 2014.