Having found success with the Percy Jackson series, Fox are setting up a new young adult franchise this year, bringing the first novel in the best-selling The Maze Runner trilogy to the big screen.
With few movies geared towards the teenage-ish demographic, the studio have already proven keen to shore up this property, announcing last year that they’ve hired a writer to pen the sequel. And with the launch of this first trailer and its accompanying teaser poster, it’s easy to see why they have faith in its success.
Based on the young-adult novel by James Dashner, “The Maze Runner” centers around teen Thomas (O’Brien), who awakens in a rusty elevator with no memory of who he is. What he does come to find out is that he’s been delivered to the middle of an intricate maze, along with a slew of other boys, who have been trying to find their way out of the ever-changing labyrinth — all the while establishing a functioning society within the enclosure they’ve come to call “The Glade.”
Dylan O’Brien leads the cast as Thomas, starring alongside Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Blake Cooper, Aml Ameen, Chris Sheffield, and Patricia Clarkson.
Wes Ball directs from a script originally penned by Noah Oppenheim, with Grant Pierce Meyers doing a subsequent draft, adapting James Dashner’s novel of the same name.
The blockbuster marks the feature directorial debut for Ball, whose stunning short film, Ruin, has garnered him much attention and is also set up at Fox to be adapted into a full feature, eyeing similar franchise potential.
The young adult adaptation was originally set to be released over the Valentine’s weekend this year, but was later pushed back, and given that The Lego Movie continued to dominate in its second frame in February, it was probably for the best.
The Maze Runner will be released in the US on September 19th, before crossing the Atlantic for its UK release date on 24th October.
