Maze Runner (film series)

Maze Runner is an American film trilogy consisting of science-fiction dystopian action adventure films based on The Maze Runner novels by the American author James Dashner. Produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and distributed by 20th Century Studios, the films star Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Dexter Darden, and Patricia Clarkson. Wes Ball directed all three films.

Maze Runner
Directed byWes Ball
Produced by
Screenplay byT.S. Nowlin
Based onThe Maze Runner series
by James Dashner
Starring
Music byJohn Paesano
Production
company
(3)
Distributed by20th Century Studios
Release date
2014–2018
Running time
Total (3 films):
386 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetTotal (3 films):
$157 million
Box officeTotal (3 films):
$949 million

The first film, The Maze Runner, was released on September 19, 2014 and became a commercial success grossing over $348 million worldwide. The second film, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials was released on September 18, 2015, and was also a success, grossing over $312 million worldwide. The film series concluded with the release of the third film, Maze Runner: The Death Cure on January 26, 2018.

Films

The Maze Runner (2014)
Main article: The Maze Runner (film)

The film features Thomas, who wakes up trapped in a maze with a group of other boys. He has no memory of the outside world other than dreams about an organization known as WCKD (World Catastrophe Killzone Department). Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his purpose and a way to escape.[1]

Development for the film began in January 2011 when Fox purchased the film rights to Dashner's novel The Maze Runner.[2] Principal photography began in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in May 2013 and ended in July.[3][4] It was released on September 19, 2014.[5]

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
Main article: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

The film features Thomas and his fellow Gladers as they search for clues about the organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD's "vastly superior" forces and uncover its plans for them all.[6]

Principal photography commenced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in October 2014 and ended in January 2015.[7][8] It was released on September 18, 2015.[9]

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Main article: Maze Runner: The Death Cure

In the finale to the Maze Runner saga, Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.[10]

In March 2015, T.S. Nowlin, who co-wrote the first and wrote the second film, was hired to write Maze Runner: The Death Cure based on the novel The Death Cure.[11] In September 2015, Ball was hired to direct the film.[12] Ball said that the film would not be split into two films.[13] Principal photography took place in Cape Town, South Africa between March and June 2017 for a January 26, 2018 release.[14][15][16][17]

Future

Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney in March 2019, Disney confirmed in April 2019 at their Cinemacon presentation that new Maze Runner films were in development.[18]

Cast and characters
Character Films
The Maze Runner Maze Runner:
The Scorch Trials		 Maze Runner:
The Death Cure
Thomas Dylan O'Brien
Teresa Kaya Scodelario
Newt Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Minho Ki Hong Lee
Frypan Dexter Darden
Ava Paige Patricia Clarkson
Winston Alexander Flores
Gally Will Poulter Will Poulter
Alby Aml Ameen
Chuck Blake Cooper
Jeff Jacob Latimore
Zart Joe Adler
Ben Chris Sheffield
Janson Aidan Gillen
Aris Jacob Lofland
Brenda Rosa Salazar
Jorge Giancarlo Esposito
Sonya Katherine McNamara
Harriet Nathalie Emmanuel
Vince Barry Pepper
Mary Cooper Lili Taylor
Marcus Alan Tudyk
Lawrence Walton Goggins

Crew
Occupation Film
The Maze Runner Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Director Wes Ball
Producer(s) Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Wyck Godfrey
Marty Bowen
Lee Stollman		 Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Wyck Godfrey
Marty Bowen
Lee Stollman
Joe Hartwick Jr.		 Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Wyck Godfrey
Marty Bowen
Joe Hartwick Jr.
Wes Ball
Lee Stollman
Writer(s) Noah Oppenheim
Grant Pierce Myers
T.S. Nowlin		 T.S. Nowlin
Director of photography Enrique Chediak Gyula Pados
Editor(s) Dan Zimmerman Dan Zimmerman
Paul Harb

Music
Title U.S. release date Composer(s) Label
The Maze Runner — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[19] September 12, 2014 (2014-09-12) John Paesano Sony Classical
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[20] September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11)
Maze Runner: The Death Cure — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[21] January 26, 2018 (2018-01-26)

Reception

Box office performance
Film Release date Box office gross Box office ranking Production budget Ref(s)
North America Other territories Worldwide All time
North America		 All time
worldwide
The Maze Runner September 19, 2014 (2014-09-19) $102,427,862 $245,891,999 $348,319,861 580 285 $34 million [22]
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials September 18, 2015 (2015-09-18) $81,697,192 $230,627,911 $312,325,103 810 337 $61 million [23]
Maze Runner: The Death Cure January 26, 2018 (2018-01-26) $58,032,443 $230,385,747 $288,418,190 1,377 467 $62 million [24]
Total [25]
$242,157,497 $706,905,657 $949,063,154 $157 million

All Maze Runner films opened at number-one at the North American box-office during their opening weekend.[26][27][28] In North America, the Maze Runner film series is the fifth highest-grossing film series based on young adult books, after the film series of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, and The Divergent Series respectively, earning $242 million.[29] Worldwide, it is the fourth highest-grossing film series based on young-adult books, after the film series of Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga, and The Hunger Games respectively, earning $949 million from a $157 million total production budget.[25]

Critical and public response

The first installment received generally positive reviews from critics while the sequels were met with mixed critical reception.

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
The Maze Runner 65% (170 reviews)[30] 57 (34 reviews)[1] A–[31]
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials 46% (147 reviews)[32] 43 (29 reviews)[6] B+[31]
Maze Runner: The Death Cure 43% (169 reviews)[33] 51 (37 reviews)[10] B+[31]
gollark: Quack quack.
gollark: C is hard to use without mucking up everything via unsafety.
gollark: Basically, some compilers produce LLVM outputs which LLVM then compiles to platform assembly.
gollark: It stands for Low Level Virtual Machine.
gollark: LlVM is basically a language between C and Assembly.

References
  1. "The Maze Runner Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  2. Zeitchik, Steven (January 4, 2011). "Young-adult sensation 'The Maze Runner' gets ready to run the movie gantlet (Updated)". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  3. "Maze Runner Movie Set". jamesdashner.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  4. "The Maze Runner Movie Release Date, News, and Updates: 2 New Clips Released in Anticipation of The Premiere". hallels.com. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  5. Busch, Anita (September 21, 2014). "Box Office Sunday: 'Maze Runner' Finds $32.5M; Liam's 'Walk' Limps In; 'Where I Leave You' No. 3". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  6. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  7. Maze Runner Official Twitter (October 27, 2014). "Maze Runner: Scorch Trials begins filming". Twitter. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  8. Wentz, Brook (January 29, 2015). "'The Maze Runner' sequel 'The Scorch Trials' officially wraps filming". Hypable. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  9. Dashner, James (September 21, 2014). "And like that's not cool enough, it's official: THE SCORCH TRIALS movie is coming September 18, 2015. Doesn't this look sweet: #ScorchTrials". Twitter. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  10. "Maze Runner: The Death Cure reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  11. Busch, Anita (March 4, 2015). "'Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Sets T.S. Nowlin To Pen". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  12. McNary, Dave; Chi, Paul (September 16, 2015). "Wes Ball Returning to Direct Third 'Maze Runner'". Variety. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  13. Sciretta, Peter (October 9, 2014). "'The Maze Runner' Finale 'The Death Cure' Won't Be Split Into Two Movies". /Film. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  14. Busch, Anita (August 29, 2016). "'The Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Will Restart Production In February". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  15. Bailey, Ian (September 4, 2016). "Maze Runner film production leaving B.C. for South Africa". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  16. D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 22, 2017). "Deadpool 2', 'New Mutants' & 'Dark Phoenix' Find 2018 Dates Among Fox's Slew Of Release Changes & Additions". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  17. McNary, Dave (August 25, 2017). "Steven Spielberg's Pentagon Papers Movie Re-Titled 'The Post'". Variety. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  18. "Fox Plans More Sequels to Popular Movie Franchises Post-Disney Merger". CBR. April 3, 2019.
  19. "The Maze Runner (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  20. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  21. "Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  22. "The Maze Runner (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  23. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  24. "Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  25. "Maze Runner Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  26. Subers, Ray (September 21, 2014). "Weekend Report: 'Maze Runner' Franchise Off to Strong Start". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  27. Brevet, Brad (September 20, 2015). "'Maze' and 'Mass' Top Box Office, but 'Everest' and 'Sicario' are the Story". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  28. Brevet, Brad Brevet (January 28, 2018). "'Maze Runner' #1, 'Jumanji' & 'Showman' Hold Strong & 'Padmaavat' Takes Spot in Top Ten". Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  29. "Young-Adult Book Adaptations Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  30. "The Maze Runner (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  31. "Cinemascore". Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  32. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  33. "Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
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