Maze Runner (film series)

Lore & Background

The series began with The Maze Runner (2014), in which Thomas wakes up trapped in a maze with other boys, having no memory of the outside world except dreams about an organization called WCKD. Development started in January 2011 when Fox purchased the film rights, and principal photography took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from May to July 2013. The film grossed over $348 million worldwide.

The second film, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), follows Thomas and the Gladers as they search for clues about WCKD in a desolate landscape called the Scorch. Principal photography occurred in Albuquerque, New Mexico from October 2014 to January 2015, and the film grossed over $312 million.

The third film, Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), sees Thomas leading a mission to break into the Last City to rescue friends. T. S. Nowlin was hired to write the screenplay in March 2015, and Wes Ball was hired to direct in September 2015. Principal photography took place in Cape Town, South Africa from March to June 2017. The film grossed $288 million worldwide.

Reader's Guide

The Maze Runner film series is significant as a successful adaptation of young-adult dystopian literature, grossing $949 million worldwide against a $157 million production budget. All three films opened at number one at the North American box office. In North America, the series ranks fifth among young-adult book film series (after Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, and The Divergent Series), and worldwide it ranks fourth (after Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga, and The Hunger Games). Critical reception has been mixed, with criticism of plot and character development but praise for performances and action sequences. Following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, new Maze Runner films were confirmed in development in April 2019. In May 2024, a reboot was announced, with Wes Ball returning as producer and Jack Paglen as writer, described as a continuation that returns to elements of the first film.

Did You Know?

• All three films were directed by Wes Ball and written by T. S. Nowlin.
• The first film, The Maze Runner, was released on September 19, 2014, and grossed over $348 million worldwide.
• The third film, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, was released on January 26, 2018, and grossed less than its predecessors at $288 million.

Creative Team & Production

The Maze Runner trilogy stands as one of the more consistent creative partnerships in recent franchise filmmaking. Director Wes Ball helmed all three installments, while screenwriter T. S. Nowlin penned the scripts for each film, ensuring a unified narrative voice across the series. Producer Ellen Goldsmith-Vein guided the projects under the banner of 20th Century Fox, which acquired the adaptation rights to James Dashner's novels back in January 2011. The on-screen ensemble—Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Dexter Darden, and Patricia Clarkson—carried the story across a decade of production. Each film was shot in a different location: the first in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (May–July 2013), the second in Albuquerque, New Mexico (October 2014–January 2015), and the third in Cape Town, South Africa (March–June 2017). Ball notably insisted that the final chapter would remain a single film rather than being split into two parts, a decision that shaped the pacing of the trilogy's conclusion.

Box Office & Critical Standing

All three Maze Runner entries opened at the number-one spot in North America during their respective release weekends, a testament to the franchise's built-in audience. The 2014 original collected over $348 million globally, the 2015 Scorch Trials followed with more than $312 million, and the 2018 Death Cure, while still a solid performer, came in at $288 million. In total, the trilogy earned approximately $949 million worldwide against a combined production budget of roughly $157 million. In the North American market, the series ranks as the fifth-highest-grossing adaptation drawn from young adult literature, trailing only the Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent franchises. Critically, however, the films received a mixed reception. Reviewers frequently flagged the plot structure and character development as weak points, while simultaneously praising the cast's performances and the kinetic action sequences that anchored each installment.

Narrative Arc Across the Trilogy

The trilogy follows a clear escalation of stakes. In the first film, Thomas awakens inside a shifting maze alongside a group of boys, stripped of any memory beyond recurring dreams of a shadowy organization called WCKD. His task is to piece together fragments of his own past using clues hidden within the maze's corridors. The second installment propels the Gladers out of the maze and into the Scorch, a barren, obstacle-ridden landscape where they must hunt for evidence of WCKD's intentions. There they ally with resistance fighters and confront what the story describes as WCKD's "vastly superior" military forces. The third film raises the stakes to their peak: Thomas leads his remaining group on a final, high-risk infiltration of the Last City, a heavily fortified WCKD safe zone. Their objective is both rescue and revelation—saving their captured friends while finally answering the questions that have haunted the Gladers since they first appeared in the maze.

Legacy & the Road to a Reboot

The future of the Maze Runner brand shifted dramatically after The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in March 2019. Just a month later, at their CinemaCon presentation, Disney confirmed that additional Maze Runner films were actively in development under its umbrella. The project gained concrete momentum in May 2024, when a reboot was officially announced. Wes Ball, who had directed all three original films, stepped back into the project in a producing capacity, while Jack Paglen was brought on as the writer. The new installment was deliberately positioned as neither a simple retelling of the original story nor a straightforward sequel to the completed trilogy. Instead, it was described as a continuation that would also circle back to the specific elements of the first film that resonated most powerfully with audiences, suggesting a fresh entry point that honors the source material's emotional core.