TORONTO — Are Shailene Woodley and Theo James the next Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson?
If test audiences are any indication, Woodley and James are set to explode into pop culture upon the release of their movie Divergent on March 21.
Both stars will attend the Canadian premiere of the movie Wednesday night in Toronto and will appear on Global’s The Morning Show on Thursday.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is tracking as strongly as the first Twilight — and even better in some categories.
Divergent is tracking ahead of Twilight in terms of total awareness, definite interest and first choice.
Young females are responding positively to the movie, which also has more interest among males than Twilight.
While Divergent could debut better than Twilight, which opened to $69.6 million in 2008, it is not expected to come close to the first chapter of The Hunger Games, which opened with $152.5 million in 2012.
Directed by Neil Burger (Limitless), Divergent is based on the best-selling books by Veronica Roth.
The movie seems likely to fare better than other recent big screen adaptations of young adult books. The made-in-Toronto The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones flopped last year with a $9.3 million opening weekend. It went on to earn only $90.5 million worldwide. Beautiful Creatures opened with a disappointing $7.6 million and went on to earn only $60 million globally.
Woodley plays a teenager living in dystopian society divided into five factions based on personality.
The movie also stars Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet and Maggie Q.
So who are Woodley and James?
Woodley is a 22-year-old American actress best known for her role on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2011’s The Descendants.
James, 29, was born Theo Taptiklis in England and starred in the short-lived police drama Golden Boy and 2012’s Underworld: Awakening. He is also a singer and guitarist.
BELOW: Watch the trailer for Divergent.
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