In 2018, Maze Runner: The Death Cure wrapped up 20th Century Fox’s adaptation of James Dashner’s Maze Runner trilogy. But the next chapter in the franchise is now in development. Via The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Studios is negotiating with screenwriter Jack Paglen to write a new Maze Runner film. Paglen’s previous credits include Alien: Covenant and Netflix’s adaptation of Mark Millar and Olivier Coipel’s The Magic Order, which was cancelled before production began.
THR’s story calls the new Maze Runner film a “reboot,” but revival is the more accurate term since this is reportedly not a remake of the first novel. Nor is it a direct sequel to the trilogy. Instead, it will be a new story that takes place in the same world with some connective elements between the latest film and the movies that came before it. It’s similar to the way that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continues the reboot timeline that began in 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Teen Wolf’s Dylan O’Brien starred in the original Maze Runner films as Thomas, a teenager whose memory was erased before he was placed in an encircled area known as the Glade alongside teenage boys who were just like him. The only way out of the Glade was through a deadly maze that few of the boys managed to survive. Thomas’ ability to navigate the maze led him to become a leader among his group as they unraveled the conspiracy behind their imprisonment.
Since the new film won’t be a sequel, O’Brien and the other cast members from the trilogy aren’t expected to return. It’s also unclear if the new movie will be based on Dashner’s Maze Cutter novels, which are sequel stories that takes place decades after The Death Cure.
Wes Ball, the director of The Maze Runner trilogy, will produce the new film alongside Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Lee Stollman, Wyck Godfrey, and Marty Bowen.
