<em>Divergent</em> Stars Hit the Red Carpet for Highly Anticipated Hollywood Premiere

Divergent hits theaters this weekend as one of the most highly anticipated films of the spring and targeting a largely tween audience. Based on the best selling novel trilogy by Veronica Roth, who authored the books while still an undergraduate student at Northwestern University, the film is already being compared to the hugely popular Hunger Games and Twilight series.

Some early box office numbers for the weekend speculate that the film will bring in 50 million or more. And while only time will tell, the film is definitely worth seeing.

Kate Winslett and Shailene Woodley's futuristic thriller is set in Chicago about 150 years in the future and places members of society into one of five factions: Dauntless, the fearless protectors and warriors of the society; Abnegation who are about selflessness; Erudite are smart, intellectual and a little bit cold; Candor who value honesty, and do not filter their thoughts to please others; and Amity, happy farmers who are all about love and kindness. At 16, citizens take a series of tests said to reveal which faction they belong to, after which they have to choose a group in which to carry out the rest of their lives.

Divergents are a group that doesn't fit into any faction, exhibiting traits and characteristics of each of the groups, as well as a capacity to fit into any faction they choose. In the film, this ability to choose for themselves is seen as a danger and an internal threat to a fragile societal system built to keep peace and order.

I sat down with the cast at the junket in LA and then caught up with the actors at the recent Hollywood Premiere to discuss the growing excitement surrounding its release, its ready made fan base [built on those popular books] and Shailene Woodley, the young actress at the heart of it all, who is arguably about to be launched into worldwide fame... Find my interview here.

Divergent is in theaters now...