'Divergent' Star Shailene Woodley To Work With Naomi Watts In 'Insurgent'; Sequel Expected To Generate $350-400 Million

"Divergent" star Shailene Woodley will be working with Naomi Watts in "Insurgent" for as early as now, Lionsgate already expects the sequel to generate between $350 to $400 million.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Divergent" star Shailene Woodley and the rest of the cast Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller and Octavia Spencer have alerady started filming last week in Atlanta. Naomi Watts will jump right into filming.

Octavia Spencer is expected to bring gravitas to her role as Johanna, the Amity faction leader, in "Insurgent," the sequel to the successful "Divergent," which will be directed by Robert Schwentke, HollywoodLife.com said.

The website reported that "Insurgent" will be Naomi Watts first commercial film in a while as the award-winning actress normally gravitates toward artsy and indie films to showcase her acting chops. But the actress "is no stranger to commercial films" as she starred in "King Kong" directed by Peter Jackson and "The Ring" series.

Naomi Watts will join "Divergent" star Shailene Woodley as she plays Evelyn, the leader of the Factionless. The actress signed on to do two more films in the franchise, the two final "Allegiant" movies.

"Divergent" star Shailene Woodley will reprise her role as the rebellious Tris while Theo James will also be back as her love interest, Four.

"Insurgent" will open in theaters on March 20, 2015. The third and final installments, "Allegiant: Part 1" and "Allegiant: Part 2" will be released on March 18, 2016 and March 24, 2017, HollywoodLife added.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer expects "Insurgent" to hit between $350 million to $400 million.

According to Variety, the figure represents "an increase of 27% to 40%" over the targetted gross of "Divergent" of $275 million. The first film opened to theaters on March 21 and grossed $266 million.

He told Variety that the "Divergent" franchise will contribute to the overall profits of the studio up until 2018.