Dystopian teen science fiction got another boost in movie theaters when The Maze Runner was released in 2014. While filming the third and final film, The Maze Runner: The Death Cure, in the series, which is based on young adult novels by author James Dashner, star Dylan O’Brien was seriously injured on the set in March. Filming was halted immediately, but production was expected to be able to pick back up again on May 9. Now, though, we’ve heard that his injuries are taking longer than expected to heal, and production will be shut down for the foreseeable future.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dylan O’Brien will need an unspecified amount of time past that previous May 9 re-start date to continue to recover from his injuries. Reports are now saying that the damage done to O’Brien in the on-set accident is more severe than originally believed.
The accident occurred on March 18, while the motorcycle that Dylan O’Brien was riding tipped over and slid along the ground, leading to him hitting his head and being knocked out. Another vehicle in the scene that was being filmed then, reportedly, ran over the 24-year-old actor. O’Brien suffered broken bones in the face and elsewhere, lacerations and a concussion, and was immediately rushed to a hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, where filming was taking place on the sequel.
The action-packed film will once again follow Thomas (O’Brien) and his surviving Gladers as they adjust to the post-apocalyptic world outside of the Maze. Our group of heroes will have to battle the forces of WCKD again to try and find a cure to the disease, the Flare, that has decimated most of the population. The teens will also, no doubt, have to find a way through their interpersonal difficulties as they deal with the extremely high stakes of their mission.
Word that Dylan O’Brien will need more time to heal from his many injuries is definitely not good news for many reasons. First and foremost, news went out earlier this month that the actor was well on his way to healing up nicely, and in good spirits, which is why that May production date was decided on. But with the production now stopping indefinitely, it would appear that O’Brien has suffered some sort of set back, which doesn’t bode well for the young actor’s health in the immediate future. And, of course, this extended delay will mean that the film, which had been slated for a February 17, 2017 release, will probably no longer be able to hit that release date. Also, having the production in limbo has got to be hard, career-wise, on all the other cast and the crew.
Obviously, though, the most important thing is that Dylan O’Brien can heal up before too much longer. We’ll continue to keep you up to date on the latest news regarding O’Brien and The Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
