Fans of the best-selling novel Divergent got a first look at the film adaptation today at San Diego Comic Con in Hall H. Today’s panel featured writer Veronica Roth, director Neil Burger (Limitless), and actors Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Maggie Q, Ansel Elgort, Mekhi Phifer, Ben Lamb, Amy Newbold, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Zoe Kravitz, and Christian Madsen. Chris Hardwick was on hand as the moderator for the panel.

If you’ve never heard of Divergent before, the story follows Beatrice Prior (Woodley) and her life in a dystopian Chicago where the world is split into different factions. In this world, everyone is divided into different societies based on qualities that they are looking for, such as bravery and selflessness. Beatrice, or Tris as she becomes known, chooses a different society than what the rest of her family belongs to. Based on the footage shown, the film looks to be part Harry Potter and part Hunger Games, while having its own personality.

The footage shown at the panel was the first time anyone had seen anything from the film. In fact, director Neil Burger explained that they had just finished principal photography had just wrapped two days ago. The footage shown was filmed just so they could show it here at Comic-Con.

Some of what shown was Tris starting her initiation into the Dauntless society, which exemplifies bravery. There was plenty of knife throwing and shooting and jumping off ledges. The footage didn’t seemed rushed, but I was left wondering if the shots were still missing some of the finishing CGI (which is quite possible). The futuristic Chicago looked pretty much the same as modern day Chicago. Still, the footage looked good at this early stage, and fans at the panel seemed to respond positively to it.

Writer Veronica Ross said that the third book would be told from the perspective of both Tris and Four, which I’m sure makes sense to fans of the book series. The author said this is the first time she’s revealed this information about the third book.

The cast has a lot of young actors and also features Kate Winslet, Tony Goldwyn, and Ashley Judd. The film is set to release March 21, 2014.

Panel Photos

We took lots of photos from the panel, but seeing as we’re still in Hall H covering the next panels (including Ender’s Game!) and can’t upload those photos yet, here’s something GoD’s Empress Eve shot and posted to Instagram.

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[Panel photos by Dave3 for Geeks of Doom.]