Neil Burger Off ‘Divergent’ Sequel Prompts Summit Statement

Summit Entertainment is clarifying yesterday’s news that Divergent helmer Neil Burger won’t be coming back for the sequel Insurgent. Summit blames post production. Sounds similar to Gary Ross’s withdrawal from the second The Hunger Games because he couldn’t match the fast pace that Lionsgate wanted for Catching Fire, which was helmed by Francis Lawrence. Insurgent was scripted by Brian Duffield and is being fast tracked into production early next year.

From a Summit statement: “Neil Burger is a rock star and he is doing a fantastic job on Divergent. We can’t wait for you to see the film. But as amazing as Neil is he still cannot be in two places at once and thus needs to finish post production on Divergent while we gear up to start production on Insurgent. So, although Neil will continue on as part of our Divergent family as an executive producer, we sadly have to find another director for the next chapter in Veronica Roth’s fantastic series.”