The Maze Runner Film Series Prepares for a Reboot Launch
Let's dive into the world of Maze Runner, a franchise that's made a strong mark after Disney seized control of 20th Century Fox. The thrilling saga continues with the highly-anticipated release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, followed by Alien: Romulus and Deadpool & Wolverine later this summer. But, you might ask, what other Fox gems are making a comeback? The Maze Runner series, duh!
As per The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Studios is cooking up a new generation of Maze Runner films. Jack Paglen, the guy behind the sci-fi thriller Transcendence, will take the helm. If you've got a hazy memory, the original Maze Runner dropped in 2014 and was directed by none other than Wes Ball, who's already killing it with Kingdom and will be producing this fresh project. The flick was based on James Dashner's dystopian YA novels, in which an amnesiac hero named Thomas found himself in a vast maze with a bunch of other boys, desperate to unravel its mysteries and escape.
The Maze Runner series rode the Hunger Games and Twilight wave to success, with the first film raking in a whopping $348.3 million on a shoe-string budget of $34 million[3]. Its sequels, Scorch Trials and Death Cure, were equally blockbuster hits, grossing $312.3 million and $288.2 million, respectively[4]. Unfortunately, Death Cure faced a regulatory setback when star Dylan O'Brien had to recover from some nasty injuries[5].
Disney had promised fresh Maze Runner movies post-merger[6], but it seems they've opted for a reboot instead of adapting the previously released prequel books, The Kill Order and Fever Code. The trend nowadays is to breathe new life into relatively recent YA franchises, like Twilight and (maybe) Percy Jackson. Fingers crossed that the reboot delivers the same fun, gripping vibe as its predecessors when it hits the big screen.
Stay tuned for updates on Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, DC, and Doctor Who, right here on io9[7].
- Jack Paglen, known for the sci-fi thriller Transcendence, will be directing the new generation of Maze Runner films as announced by The Hollywood Reporter.
- Wes Ball, who directed the original Maze Runner and is currently working on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, will produce the upcoming Maze Runner project.
- Despite Disney's earlier promise of fresh Maze Runner movies post-merger, the upcoming films will be a reboot rather than an adaptation of previously released prequel books like The Kill Order and Fever Code.
- The Maze Runner series, which includes the movies Maze Runner, Scorch Trials, and Death Cure, have been successful, earning a combined total of over $950 million on a low budget.
