When The Maze Runner opened in theaters last summer it was greeted by a tidal wave of support, encouragement and a clutch of positive reviews. Another movie franchise mined from the vast back catalogue of young adult fiction available, its success surprised many. But not the studio, who sensed they had a hit on their hands and optioned the rights to all the novels in James Dashner’s series. Shortly after the first instalment arrived in cinemas, the studio gave sequel – Scorch Trials – the greenlight.
Now, the third expected feature – The Maze Runner: The Death Cure – is pushing forward. Deadline reports that T.S. Nowlin, who co-scripted the first movie and scripted the second, has signed on to pen the third outing. He will also receive an executive producer credit on the movie.
The first Maze Runner grossed $100 million in the U.S. and $238 million worldwide – a surefire sign that Fox would continue to adapt Dashner’s novels. Set in a grimy dystopia, the Wes Ball-directed original followed a youngster who is chased around a maze by a series of robots, all while struggling with amnesia.
The follow-up, Scorch Trials, is scheduled to arrive later this year and sees the return of Dylan O’Brien as the titular runner. He’ll be joined by Game Of Thrones‘ Aiden Gillen and Nathalie Emmanuel, Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito, Rosa Salazar, Jacob Lofland, Barry Pepper and Lily Taylor.
The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials arrives in theaters on September 8, with no release date pencilled in for The Maze Runner: The Death Cure yet as it is currently in development.