"Divergent" Projected Book Sales on Target to Hit "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" Sale Numbers

Lionsgate not only made money at the box office ($686,533,290 worldwide) with The Hunger Games, but their stock more than doubled with the success of that franchise (from $7 to $20). Now Lionsgate thinks Divergent Movie is it's next big franchise in a post Twilight era. One thing that makes Divergent a contender with Hunger Games and Twilight is it's book sales. Divergent is on track to meet the same sales numbers of the first books of those book series.

"We’re putting it out to our fans right now that we think this is the next big franchise," Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer said last fall, according to The Wrap, adding that the movie will be a hit because it has a passionate fan base. Divergent is scheduled for released on March 21, 2014, the same period of the year when The Hunger Games broke out in 2012.

"By putting it, frankly, in the original Hunger Games time slot, we’re indicating the amount of support we have," said Feltheimer.

Speaking on a third-quarter earnings call this week, Feltheimer reiterated his confidence in what the company hopes will become another Twilight-esque golden goose.

“Book sales of the Divergent franchise are approaching the 3 million mark and continue to compare favorably to The Hunger Games and Twilight franchises at a similar point in their trajectory,” said Feltheimer, according to transcript provided by Seeking Alpha.

With the release date still over a year away, it’s anyone’s guess how Divergent will perform sales-wise.

“Nothing is ever guaranteed in the film business of course, but I think Lions Gate feels that Divergent has ingredients that give it an opportunity to pursue franchise success,” James Goss, a senior media analyst at Barrington Research, told Minyanville.

Read more financial mumbojumbo about Lionsgate and it's earnings post Hunger Games here.

Tags: divergent book, lionsgate, the hunger games, twilight

Comment by Naomi Myers on February 13, 2013 at 8:49pm: YES YES YES!!! DIVERGENT will definetly be as big as the Hunger Games and Twilight, if not, more. The books are amazing and I cant wait till the third one! If the movie(s) are just as great as the Hunger Games, DIVERGENT will definetly be even more popular^.< DIVERGENT FAN 4EVER!!!

Comment by Peggy Bitner on February 14, 2013 at 5:15am: WOOOOOP! MY life will be finally complete when the third book and the movie will be released! Skrew the HUNGER GAMES and TWILIGHT, they were good but DIVERGENT will be far above all of them. But i swear, if something happens to Four/Tobias, i will be writing a STRONGLY worded letter to quite a few people! <4

Comment by A Y on February 14, 2013 at 12:07pm: DIVERGENT AND THE HUNGER GAMES ALL THE WAY!!! OH YEAH BABY!!!

Comment by Steele Sheen on February 14, 2013 at 5:54pm: Once the marketing machine gets underway Divergent book sales will skyrocket, so its bound to do even better numbers than what its tracking now, which is impressive already. This isnt even counting the possibility of the Divergent film becoming a monster franchise the size of HP, LOTR or THG, if that happens we could see the books have multiple covers, book tie-ins, and poor anxious Veronica being hounded like a rock star lol!

Comment by Jess on February 15, 2013 at 12:10am: Yep! Divergent is Awesome!!

Comment by Darith3duh on February 17, 2013 at 4:56pm: Does anyone else know that Beautiful Creatures is doing badly at the box office? I think this is due to the changes made. Hopefully Divergent sticks closely to the books :)