Actress Kate Winslet has been cast to star in the upcoming young adult, sci-fi film Divergent, based on the first of a trilogy of novels by Veronica Roth.

Film studio Summit Entertainment announced Thursday that the 37-year-old Oscar winner will play the unlikable Jeanine Matthews. The film is set in a futuristic society divided into five factions that defines how a person lives his or her life. People are placed accordingly based on their personalities and, for example, the Abnegation people are selfless while the Erudite are committed to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. Winslet will play the leader of the Erudite, Summit said.

Winslet won an Oscar in 2009 for leading role performance in The Reader. She also has a Golden Globes for Mildred Pierce and Revolutionary Road, a Screen Actors Guild Award and many other honors. Aside from her noted projects, fans also know her for her starring role in Titanic, Contagion, All the King's Men and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The studio previously announced the casting of 21-year-old Shailene Woodley (The Descendents) and 28-year-old Theo James (Underworld: Awakening) for Divergent. Woodley plays Tris Prior, deemed a "divergent" because she does not fit into any group, according to Deadline. She learns she and other divergents are going to be destroyed and wants to find out why they are considered dangerous. James' character, Four, is her instructor and one of the leaders of the Dauntless faction.

Divergent is due for release in March 2014.

Film studio LionsGate Entertainment, which acquired Summit for $412 million last year, is behind the highly-successful Twilight Saga films and released The Hunger Games in March 2012. The last Twilight film was released late in 2012 and the second installment of The Hunger Games franchise, Catching Fire, is scheduled to be released in November of 2013.