James Dashner’s Maze Runner books were a staple of the 2010s’ Young Adult dystopia boom, and the movies only added to the hype. Dylan O’Brien starred as Thomas in all three Maze Runner movies, starting with The Maze Runner, which was released in 2014, and ending with The Death Cure, which was released in 2018.
Since then, fans have questioned whether another Maze Runner movie would ever be made. Though the movies significantly changed certain plot points from the books, they were relatively successful adaptations of this beloved story—the cast, the choices they made for the characters, and the way they emotionally ripped our hearts out made these movies particularly effective. Another film set in WICKED’s manipulative dystopia would probably be welcomed with open arms, but will it ever happen?
Will there be another Maze Runner movie?
On May 3, 2024, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that a new Maze Runner movie is officially in the works. Disney is currently in talks with Jack Paglen, a screenwriter perhaps best known for his work on Transcendence, to pen the script for the upcoming movie. Wes Ball, who directed the original Maze Runner trilogy, is on board as a producer.
Though this film will essentially “reboot” the franchise, it’s not being promoted as a remake of the original trilogy or a direct sequel. Instead, it’s been described as a “continuation” of the story and the world in which it takes place, referencing that which made the original books and movies so beloved while pushing the narrative forward. This is just as well—they’d be hard-pressed to find actors more suited for this story than the original cast, which was led by Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, and Will Poulter.
According to Box Office Mojo, The Maze Runner was produced for $34 million and made $348 million at the worldwide box office. Its sequel, The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, had a budget of $61 million and earned $312 million at the worldwide box office, and the final installment, The Death Cure, had a budget of $62 million and made $288 million globally. These may not be Marvel Cinematic Universe numbers, but the Maze Runner movies proved to be low-risk productions that produced relatively high rewards. As such, it’s perhaps not surprising that Disney is willing to push the franchise forward once more. There’s plenty of other material to pull from, after all.
The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure are not the only books set in the Maze Runner universe. James Dashner, the Maze Runner series’ author, also wrote two Maze Runner prequel novels: The Kill Order and The Fever Code. The Kill Order takes place after the first solar flares hit the Earth, which jumpstarted the apocalypse, brought forth the deadly virus, and eventually created the dystopian society featured in The Maze Runner trilogy. The Fever Code, on the other hand, focused specifically on the lives of the Gladers before their memories were wiped and they were sent into the maze by WICKED.
Dashner has also since begun writing a Maze Runner sequel series, known as The Maze Cutter series, which so far includes two novels: The Maze Cutter and The Godhead Complex. This series is set more than 70 years after the events of The Death Cure and follows the terrifying adventures of the Gladers’ descendants. If the new Maze Runner movie isn’t supposed to be a direct sequel but rather a way to revisit similar themes and story beats and further explore Dashner’s dystopian world, then these latest stories are perfect for a major adaptation.
There’s no official production start date or release date confirmed just yet, but for those of us who are fans of the Maze Runner franchise, this is undoubtedly positive news. Disney had initially announced its intention to expand the Maze Runner series in 2019, so this announcement has been a long time coming.
(featured image: 20th Century Fox)
