Last year’s teen sleeper hit The Maze Runner crept into theaters and proceeded to clean up at the box office, while securing a solid critical reception in the process. Based on the first in a series of novels by James Dashner, the inevitable follow-up was shepherded into production and now, a gallery of snaps from Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials have surfaced online via People and EW.
Headed up by Dylan O’Brien as Thomas, the first movie followed a group of boys dropped in a mechanical maze who fought and clawed to find a way out while battling a tide of robotic opponents. By film’s end, the tough assembly of youngsters escape the clutches of the maze and stumble into the unknown… which is where Scorch Trials will continue. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, producer Godfrey Wyck explained the boys’ transition from the maze to the world beyond:
“The first movie was the mystery of ‘Where are we and what is this place? And can we get out?’ But the second movie is about the repercussions of getting out and the discovery of what the world is actually like.”
That new world comes with its price, though. Freedom might prevail, but for Thomas and his brethren of “Gladers” the fight is only beginning ,as they realize the Scorched lands ahead are a part of shady organization WCKD’s manipulative plans. “Our group runs into a lot of people out in the Scorch,” returning director Wes Ball told EW. “Some are friends, some are foes. In this case, they’ve stumbled onto the latter.”
Alongside O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter and Patricia Clarkson will reprise their roles from the first outing. Newbies Aiden Gillen, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper and Lily Taylor set to make their first franchise appearances.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials opens in theaters on September 18, 2015.