Why The Maze Runner Franchise Should End With The Death Cure, According To The Cast
With properties like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars franchise, it's arguably rare for a major blockbuster series to come to an end these days. However, that's what's happening with the release of Maze Runner: The Death Cure. CinemaBlend recently sat down with the cast of the Maze Runner threequel to ask why the franchise should end on its third installment, and Kaya Scodelario explained that it all stemmed from director Wes Ball's desire to do something old-school and keep the series from overstaying its welcome. As the actress put it:
So it sounds like it was always Wes Ball's intention to tell a story based on three movies, and then end the franchise after the third film. This explanation makes sense because the Maze Runner franchise is based on a trilogy of novels (not counting the prequels), but it also helps Maze Runner: The Death Cure by ensuring that the franchise won't stick around too long and become a parody of itself.
Following Kaya Scodelario's remarks (and her quick joke about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), Dylan O'Brien continued the explanation and remarked on how the Maze Runner franchise fits neatly into three-act story structure by ending on The Death Cure. Per O'Brien:
If you want to hear everything that the cast of Maze Runner: The Death Cure had to say about the franchise coming to an end, check out a clip from CinemaBlend's interview with them, below!
Of course, with the Maze Runner franchise coming to an end, this also opens up the schedule for the cast of The Death Cure to go on to other franchises. Despite her jokes, it's entirely plausible that Kaya Scodelario could return for a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and Rosa Salazar is already lining up for the titular role in Alita: Battle Angel. Moreover, elsewhere in our interview, Dylan O'Brien expressed interest in portraying Dick Grayson in the DCEU for the upcoming Nightwing movie -- once he learned who Nightwing was, that is. This franchise may have come to an end, but it looks like that has created numerous opportunities for the Maze Runner actors to continue acting in big-budget action adventures.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure is now in theaters. Make sure to check out the final installment in the Maze Runner franchise, and look through our movie premiere guide to see what other films (franchise or otherwise) are debuting this year!
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Originally from Connecticut, Conner grew up in San Diego and graduated from Chapman University in 2014. He now lives in Los Angeles working in and around the entertainment industry and can mostly be found binging horror movies and chugging coffee.