Are you excited to see Divergent this weekend? I’m seeing it on Thursday and can hardly wait. (Never mind the 24% 35% 42% Rotten Tomatoes score) Dystopia may not be the hot trend in YA fiction anymore but with the success of The Hunger Games, and the hype of Divergent, the trend is very much alive in cinema. Also on the horizon are two more dystopian adaptations: The Giver and The Maze Runner. Their trailers debuted this week.
The Giver film is based on the 1993 classic book by Lois Lowry. The film adaptation has an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Taylor Swift, Brenton Thwaites, and Jeff Bridges. The trailer debuted this morning on the Today show. Let’s take a look:
Where’s Taylor Swift? Maybe they are holding her scenes back to build excitement. Look for The Giver to hit the big screen August 15. Don’t forget to read the book first!
The Maze Runner film is based on the 2009 book by James Dashner. The trailer debuted during Teen Wolf. Did you see it? The Maze Runner stars Dylan O’Brien (Ah, Teen Wolf- there’s the connection!) Kaya Scoldelario, Will Poulter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Aml Ameen.
It looks pretty action-packed! Look for The Maze Runner in theaters September 19. And hey, the kindle edition is only $1.99 at the moment if you want to read it ahead of time.
Are you excited to see The Giver and The Maze Runner? Are you seeing Divergent this weekend? Can’t wait to chat about it with you!
I love Dystopia movies but hate Dystopia books. Aside from the hunger games, it is the only book series I’ve managed to like in the genre.
Interesting! I’m a casual dystopia fan and you know I think I may prefer them in movies as well. Sometimes seeing the movie will make me want to go back and read the book though. Hope you enjoy seeing Divergent, The Giver or Maze Runner! Did you like any of those books?
I probably won’t see either one. I’m not a dystopia fan in books or movies.
Not even The Hunger Games? 🙂 I hear ya though- it’s good to know what you like!
I just put the Maze Runner on hold at the Library. We will see–reminds me a bit of Andrew Fukada.
Could be! It wasn’t my thing but I know the series has a lot of fans. The movie trailer is making me give The Maze Runner a second look.
I’m really excited to see Divergent this weekend, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the book. I just love seeing how books translate to the big screen.
But that being said, I’m disappointed in The Giver trailer. I’m afraid that the movie is just not going to do the story any sort of justice. In my head, the movie should be black & white, and Jonas should be younger, and it should be less futuristic-looking. But I’m biased because that’s one of the books I hold closest to my heart.
My daughter feels the same way about The Giver trailer. She just read the book for school and thinks the look is all wrong. I wonder why they took such a big leap stylistically.
Hope you enjoy Divergent! We had a blast seeing it. It’s pretty faithful to the book, so much so that it’s confusing to see the small changes they did make that don’t add anything to the film. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Maybe the stylistic leap has to do with what’s popular in film now? Or what will attract the most viewers?
I enjoyed Divergent more than I thought I would! I liked that it was pretty true to the book. Maybe I’ll finish the trilogy now. 🙂
I’ll definitely go see both. Not that I like dystopia per se but because I’m a movie buff. I have to admit, Divergent looks little bit ~cheap compared to the other movies in the genre and yes, that 22% RT rating scares me a little. I mean, the tattoos looked Sharpied!
But if The Giver is going to have an LA premiere, I’ll be there. Alexander Skarsgard with an ensemble cast is reason enough for me to go!
The RT score keeps going up – it’s 41% now woohoo! Divergent is a fun event movie to check out. It looked pretty much how I imagined it to- just a couple scenes had me cringing but overall I’m happy.
Yes, Alexander Skarsgard sold me on The Giver as well! That will be a star studded red carpet!
I might watch it tonight or over the weekend. I’m wearing my Divergent shirt today like a complete dork that I am lol.
Definitely! And I might go to the red carpet if they’ll have one in LA. I always try to go to premieres of Skarsgard’s stuff. 🙂
You know, we should got on a virtual “double date” to the movies, since I have to go to almost everything anyhow!
Totally! That is very cool that you are reviewing movies. You’re on for a virtual double date 🙂
Super excited for Divergent this weekend! And looking forward to Maze Runner 🙂
Maze Runner does look good! Hope you are pleased with Divergent – if you are a book fan I think you will be 🙂
OMG The Maze Runner trailer looks freaking epic! I actually didn’t enjoy the book THAT much, but hopefully the movie is a lot better 🙂
I haven’t actually seen The Giver trailer yet (thought I’d read the book first) but woah that is an awesome cast. Meryl Streep!
Divergent doesn’t come out until April 10 in Australia, but luckily I got an invite to an advanced media screening on the 31st March. Which is still a fair bit later than the US, but at least it’s free haha
They showed The Maze Runner trailer before Divergent and everyone was excited. I didn’t get too far into the book but will give it a shot before the movie comes out.
You are right- The Giver does have an awesome cast! Hope you enjoy seeing Divergent- can’t beat a free screening!
Yes, I’m excited to see Divergent. Even though I was disappointed with the final book in the series, I still love Divergent and Insurgent. I don’t plan on going this weekend though–I’m sure the movie theater will be a zoo! Thanks for posting The Giver trailer. I tried looking for it on IMDB a few days ago and it wasn’t linked up there. Like Madeline said, I was surprised by all the color and the age of Jonas. However, I’ll still go see the film. This has been one of my favorite books for ages. I was super impressed with the Maze Runner trailer. It seems to follow the book exactly. The director really got the feel of the book. I hope that kids continue to read all of these great books and don’t just rely on the movie versions!
I was also disappointed with Allegiant. But, I was still pleased with the Divergent movie and hope you are too. Surprisingly the 8pm Thursday showing of the movie was not sold out- bad sign for the weekend box office?
The Maze Runner does look cool! I tried to read the book but couldn’t get into it…will try again. One of the good things about book adaptations is that kids are inspired to pick up the book after seeing the movie (or before!)
I would like to see Divergent but kinda want to re-read it first. I haven’t read Allegiant yet but want to read Divergent and Insurgent again first. I haven’t read The Giver or Maze Runner yet but like reading the book before the movie. I am far behind in reading and even further in movies!
I really need to see The Giver before the movie comes out!
I read The Giver and loved it so I really want to see the movie. My daughter went to see Divergent yesterday and loved it because she just finished the first two books and is currently finishing the third. I have The Maze Runner and have yet to read it. The movie does have heart-pounding action!