It's no secret that in Hollywood all success is followed by developments of a sequel, as young-adult adaptation The Maze Runner is the latest feature to fall into that pattern. The movie made big money in its first three days of release this weekend, and now 20th Century Fox is celebrating that win with an announcement of a Maze Runner 2.... and it's coming sooner than you might think.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has already dated the Maze Runner sequel - titled Maze Runner: Scorch Trials - for September 18, 2015. If this seems kind of a quick turnaround, you're absolutely right. If the production is able to stay on schedule, that means that the follow up will be out exactly one year and one day after the release of the first film. As the title suggests, the movie will be based on the second entry in the James Dashner's book series, which was first released back in 2010.
Despite the fact that Fox is very keen on a quick turnaround for The Maze Runner 2, the fact remains that we don't exactly know at this point who is going to be put in charge of making it. One would imagine that the top candidate for the director's chair is Wes Ball, the first-time helmer who made the first Maze Runner. Certainly the folks at Fox have to be happy with Ball's work, not only because of the nice box office numbers but because the feature has received an A- Cinema Score and earned a largely positive reaction from critics. Ball was also able to keep the budget for the feature nice and low, as Fox's reports say The Maze Runner only cost $34 million (before marketing). That's pretty impressive when you consider that the first Hunger Games cost $78 million and Divergent cost $85 million.
In The Maze Runner, Dylan O'Brien stars as Thomas, a young man who wakes up one day and finds himself in a fright elevator with no memory of who he is. Without his consent, he has been transferred to a mysterious location called The Glade - an open area surrounded by a giant maze and filled with young men who have found themselves in the same situation as our protagonist. Along with the other boys, Thomas must not only try and find a way out of the maze - dodging viscous and deadly creatures known as Grievers - but also discover who he is and who is responsible for imprisoning him. In addition to O'Brien, the film also stars Kay Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Aml Ameen, Blake Cooper and Will Poulter.
Opening on September 18, 2015, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials will be going head-to-head with Johnny Depp's currently-untitled Whitey Bulger biopic, as well as Everest, the mountain climbing adventure film starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin and John Hawkes.
