THE MAZE RUNNER

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The Maze Runner is a 2014 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Wes Ball, based on James Dashner‘s 2009 book of the same name. The film is the first installment in The Maze Runner film series and was produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, and Lee Stollman with a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers and T.S. Nowlin. The film stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee and Will Poulter.

The story follows sixteen-year-old Thomas, portrayed by O’Brien, who awakens in a rusty elevator with no memory of who he is, only to learn 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 while establishing a functioning society in what they call The Glade. Principal photography began in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on May 13, 2013 and officially concluded on July 12, 2013.

The Maze Runner was released on September 19, 2014 in the United States by 20th Century Fox. The film received mainly positive critical reviews, with praise aimed at the cast’s performances as well as the film’s intriguing premise and refreshingly dark tone. The film was also a commercial success, as it topped the box-office during its opening weekend with a $32.5 million debut, making it the sixth-highest grossing debut in September. A sequel, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, is set be released on September 18, 2015 in the United States.[3][4]

Plot[edit]

Sixteen-year old Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) wakes up inside a rusty elevator called The Box. When he arrives at the top, he is greeted by other boys in a grassy clearing called the Glade, which is surrounded by tall, gray walls. Thomas is unable to remember anything about himself, but Alby (Aml Ameen), the leader of the Glade, tells him that it’s happened to everyone and that his name will come to him soon. He shows him the Glade and how it is entirely run by the Gladers, as they call themselves. Thomas wonders what is beyond the opening in the wall adjacent to the Glade, but he is warned not to go through there, as it is a maze. Thomas meets Chuck (Blake Cooper), and the two become friends.

There is a party that night to welcome Thomas, the newest arrival. Every month The Box sends up a new person, along with supplies. Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), second in command and gardener, explains that the most able Gladers become Runners, who are the only ones allowed into the Maze. They search for an escape route during the day, but return before nightfall, as the Maze entrance closes at dusk, and no one has ever survived a night in the Maze. Thomas ends up in a fight with a boy named Gally (Will Poulter), during which he suddenly remembers his name.

While Thomas is gathering supplies in the woods, he is viciously attacked by Ben (Chris Sheffield), a Runner, who has been stung by a Griever – deadly monsters that lurk the maze. The Gladers force Ben into the Maze to die. Minho (Ki Hong Lee), a runner, and Alby attempt to retrace Ben’s steps in the maze, but Alby is stung and rendered unconscious. Minho appears at dusk, dragging Alby, but is unable to reach the entrance in time. Seeing this, Thomas runs into the maze. Minho and Thomas survive the night, with Thomas successfully killing a Griever, and they return the next day with Alby to the astonishment of the other Gladers.

Gally, upset that the fragile peace between the Gladers and the Grievers may be in jeopardy, proposes punishing Thomas for entering the maze, though Newt overrules him and makes Thomas a Runner. Thomas accompanies Minho and a few others into the maze. They find the Griever’s corpse and remove a beeping mechanical part, discovering that it is numbered to correspond to a certain section in the maze. The Box sends up the first ever girl, who apparently recognizes Thomas. A note in her hand says she’ll be “the last one ever”. The girl, named Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), carries two syringes filled with a mysterious substance. The Gladers use one on Alby, and he gradually recovers from his sting, as well as his memories.

Minho and Thomas venture into the section of the maze on the Griever’s part, discovering an escape route. They barely make it back after being forced to escape, and inform the others. That night, a wave of Grievers pour in from the walls and attack the Gladers, killing a cured Alby, among many others. Thomas stabs himself in the leg with a severed sting and remembers that he and Teresa were part of the organization that created the maze, and that all of this was a test. Gally blames Thomas and Teresa for everything and attempts to execute them. The Gladers stop him, and most of them follow Thomas through the maze’s escape route. They end up in a lab with the dead bodies of scientists strewn everywhere. A video recording of a woman plays, explaining that the planet has been destroyed by increased solar activity, followed by an epidemic. The youths in the Glade were all part of an experiment researching their apparent resistance to the epidemic. At the end of the recording, she shoots herself in the head as the lab is attacked. Gally then appears, delirious from being stung. He fires a gun at Thomas, but Minho stabs and kills him. Chuck is killed by Gally’s shot. Masked men rush in to take the group away to safety, and the maze is revealed to be in a vast desert. The dead scientists appear alive, stating that the experiment has been a success, and the survivors are now entering Phase Two.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Filming[edit]

Filming started in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on May 13, 2013,[13] and officially ended July 12, 2013.[14]

Post-production[edit]

Creature designer Ken Barthelmey created concept designs for the film.[15] The film was completed in June 2014.

Marketing[edit]

Kaya Scodelario and Dylan O’Brienat a panel for the film at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2014

Eleven character cards for the film were released in July 2013. Starting in January 2014, Director Wes Ball released one image from the film once a week, leading up to the film’s first trailer release on March 17, 2014.[16] A viral marketing campaign launched by 20th Century Fox began on April 16, 2014. The campaign is a website featuring the main characters while focusing on W.C.K.D, an organisation in Dashner’s novel series of the same name. The website has the domain wckdisgood.com[17]

On June 26, 2014, Dylan O’Brien tweeted that the original The Maze Runner book would be re-released with a new book cover based on the film’s poster.[18] On July 29, 2014, the second trailer for the film was released exclusively on Yahoo! Movies.[19]

Release[edit]

The film was originally set to be released on February 14, 2014.[20] On October 5, 2013, the film was pushed back from February 2014, until September 19, 2014.[21] IMAX theaters released the film on September 19.[22]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

As of September 24, 2014, The Maze Runner has grossed $38,534,629 in North America and $63,684,272 in other territories for a worldwide total of $102,218,901.

North America

Prior to its North American release, analysts predicted the film would be a box office success, citing effective marketing, good word-of-mouth publicity and a solid release date. Various critics predicted a $30–$32 million opening weekend could be possible.[23][24][25][26] According to movie ticket sale website Fandango, The Maze Runner was the biggest seller accounting for more than 50% of early tickets sales.[27] The film was released on September 19, 2014 in the United States in 3,604 locations and over 350 IMAX theatres[28][29] and earned $11.25 million on it’s opening day including the $1.1 million it earned from 2,200 theatres from Thursday night. On the second day the film earned $13.46 million.[30][31][32][33] The film topped the box office during it’s opening weekend with $32,512,904 million ($9,021 per theater). 9% of the weekend gross came from IMAX alone.[34] It’s opening weekend gross is the sixth-highest for a film released on September,[35][36]the 18th highest for a YA adaptations and currently the 32nd highest-grossing YA adaptations.[37][38]

Outside North America

The film debuted at five foreign markets a week prior to the North American release and earned $8.3 million.[39] The film had a similar success overseas during it’s opening weekend earning $37.6 million from 7,384 screens in 50 markets. It topped the box office in over 47 markets. In South Korea the film surpassed The Hunger Games and Divergent record for the highest debut weekend gross earning $5.5 million accounting 38% of the market. Other high openings include Russia ($5.5 million), Australia ($3.3 million), Brazil ($2 million), Hong Kong ($1.5 million) and Thailand ($1.5 million).[40]

Critical response[edit]

The Maze Runner received favorable critical reviews, with praise going to the cast’s performances, intriguing premise, visuals, and dark tone.[41][42] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 63%, based on reviews from 100 critics, with a rating average of 6/10. The site’s consensus states: “With strong acting, a solid premise, and a refreshingly dark approach to its dystopian setting, The Maze Runner stands out from the crowded field of YA sci-fi adventures.”[43] Metacritic gives the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.[44] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of A- on an A+ to F scale.[45]

Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film a three out of four and dubbed it as, “solid, well crafted and entertaining”.[46] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com said she found the film intriguing, writing that “it tells us a story we think we’ve heard countless times before but with a refreshingly different tone and degree of detail”.[47] Seattle Times‘s Soren Anderson said the film was, “vastly superior to the book that inspired it”, give it a score of 3/4.[48] Tony Hicks of San Jose Mercury News was, “hooked by the combination of fine acting, intriguing premise and riveting scenery”.[49] Matthew Toomey of ABC Radio Brisbane gave the film a grade of A-, giving praise to its intriguing premise saying that, “it held my attention for its full two hour running time”.[50] Justin Lowe of Hollywood Reporter said it was, “consistently engaging”,[51] and Ella Taylor of Variety said, “as world-creation YA pictures go, “The Maze Runner” feels refreshingly low-tech and properly story-driven”.[52]

Michael O’Sullivan of Washington Post said, “The Maze Runner unravels a few mysteries, but it spins even more”, giving it a 3/4.[53] Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger said, “it does leave you wanting to see the next installment. And that’s one special effect that very few YA movies ever pull off”.[54] Isaac Feldberg of We Got This Covered awarded the film 8/10 stars, calling it “dark, dangerous and uncommonly thrilling,” while extolling it as one of the best YA adaptations of its kind since the first “Hunger Games”.[55] Rick Bentley of Fresno Bee praised Wes Ball’s direction, saying that he has, “created balance between a thin but solid script and first-rate action — and he doesn’t waste a frame doing it”.[56] Bill Zwecker of Chicago Sun-Times called it, “a well-acted and intelligent thriller/futuristic sci-fi romp”.[57]

Claudia Puig of USA Today said, “a sci-fi thriller set in a vaguely post-apocalyptic future must create a fully drawn universe to thoroughly captivate the viewer. But Maze Runner feels only partially formed”, giving it a score of 2/4.[58]

Sequel[edit]

On October 11, 2013, it was reported that Fox had acquired the rights to the second book, The Scorch Trials. A screenplay will be written by T. S. Nowlin, with director Wes Ball supervising the scriptwriting.[59] The sequel will be released on September 18, 2015.[60][61] On July 25, 2014, Ball announced at San Diego Comic-Con International that filming for the sequel would commence in Fall 2014, should The Maze Runner become a success when it hits the theaters.[62] However, two weeks prior to the film’s release 20th Century Fox decided to move ahead with the sequel and pre-production began in early September 2014 in New Mexico.[63]

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

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