Lionsgate has announced release dates for sequels to what the studio is hoping will be its next successful young adult franchise, but director Neil Burger won't be returning once he's finished working on Divergent.
According to Variety, who first reported, there wasn't a reason given as of yet, just that Burger wouldn't be returning, so Lionsgate will have to find a new director, or directors, for Insurgent and Allegiant.
Despite Burger not being interested in the sequels, the news doesn't exactly leave Lionsgate scrambling as the release dates for the two sequels are a long way off, Cinema Blend reports. Insuregent is set for a March 20, 2015 release and Allegiant will follow nearly a year later for March 18, 2016.
CB notes that having different directors for a franchise doesn't necessarily hurt the films as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire did even better than the first film and it was directed by Francis Lawrence and not the first film's Gary Ross.
Ross had initially seemed interesting in continuing with the series, but backed out later, claiming the issue was with the production schedule.
Divergent, which is currently in post-production, hits theaters March 21, 2014 and is based off of Veronica Roth's popular futuristic YA series.
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