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White Lotus star Theo James weighed in on a potential return to the Divergent film series. In an MTV UK interview on Wednesday, March 6, during a promotional event for his latest project The Gentleman, the actor revealed he was not too keen on doing another Divergent film. He even joked:
"I’d be playing someone’s grandfather"
Theo portrayed Tobias "Four" Eaton in the popular film franchise. Tobias was the deuteragonist of the franchise, and the love interest of Shailene Woodley's protagonist Beatrice "Tris" Prior. Fans found James' latest remark about playing the role of a grandfather hilarious, and many were quick to remind him that he still looked great despite his comments about being older.
Netizens think Theo James is "still very cool" despite his recent comments about being old
The first movie in the Divergent film series hit theatres in 2014, and it saw the iconic role of Tobias "Four" Eaton, portrayed by Theo James. The actor had just come off the box office success of 2012's Underworld: Awakening. After the first film, Theo reprised his role in the follow-ups, 2016's The Divergent Series: Insurgent and the following year's The Divergent Series: Allegiant.
In the series, Tobias Eaton played the son of the Abnegation faction's Evelyn Johnson and Marcus Eaton. However, despite getting an Abnegation result, he chose the Dauntless faction to get away from the cruelty of his father. Tobias becomes an instructor to transfer initiates and later falls in love with fellow Abnegation transfer and protagonist, Beatrice "Tris" Prior.
Theo's performance in the series got him a plethora of Teen Choice award nominations and wins, making him an icon in the Young Adult genre. He, alongside co-star Shailene Woodley, also managed to win the 2015 People's Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Duo for 2014's Divergent.
During a promotional event for Theo James' latest upcoming series, The Gentleman, a spin-off of the 2019 Guy Ritchie hit starring Matthew McConaughey, James expressed his views on possibly returning to the Divergent franchise. When asked if he would be up for a return Theo James simply joked:
"No, I’d be playing someone’s grandfather I think,"
Theo added:
"I think I’ve well and truly aged out of them."
Netizens did not seem to agree with Theo James' views as many quickly reminded the actor that he still looked quite young and cool. Fans also did not mind if Theo played the role of a grandfather, believing he'd still be great to watch on screen.
Meanwhile, a few users thought that the Divergent films were not good enough for remakes, and others wanted Theo to lose his glasses. Here are a few wild X reactions to Theo's statements:
The fate of the Divergent franchise
Despite the franchise's considerable box-office success and undeniable place in the Young Adult film history, the Divergent movies were not really the most critically revered films. Rotten Tomatoes' scores for all three films show a pattern of diminishing returns, starting with the first film at 41%, moving into the second film at 28%, and the last one currently at 11%.
The first Divergent film shook theatres worldwide and attained a whopping collection of $288,885,818, according to Box Office Mojo. The second film raked in a little more than the first, respectfully bowing out after making $297,002,527 worldwide. The third film was a huge blow to the franchise as worldwide box office collections fell to a concerning $179,246,868.
The series was also not supposed to end abruptly with The Divergent Series: Allegiant. According to Screen Rant, the planned fourth film in the series, The Divergent Series: Ascendant, was scrapped due to the poor box office performance of the third film and lack of enthusiasm from the cast. The overwhelming negative critical reception did not help either.
However, the movies were a successful launchpad for a number of then-up-and-coming actors and helped establish them on the pop culture scene. Actors like Theo James, Shailene Woodley, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Zoë Kravitz, and even Bill Skarsgård, all benefitted from the popularity of Divergent.
