A reboot of “The Maze Runner,” the sci-fi franchise based on James Dashner’s dystopian young adult books, is in the works at 20th-century Disney studios. “Transcendence” screenwriter Jack Pallen is in talks to write a new film, TheWrap reported. Learned.
A trilogy of adaptations, which ran from 2014 to 2018, starred Dylan O’Brien and Kaya Scodelario. It grossed $348 million worldwide.
The film’s producers, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman of Gotham Group and Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill, are in attendance, as is director Wes Ball, who will wear the producer’s hat in the new installment.
The new film would be a sequel or a remake, but also a “continuation,” with possibly new characters looking to escape the fortified compound known as Glade.
Paglen’s previous work includes Johnny Depp’s 2014 sci-fi mystery “Transcendence” and co-story credits in 2017’s “Alien: Covenant. “He replaced him through CAA and Lichter Grossman.
The film trilogy, consisting of “The Maze Runner,” “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” and “Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” was adapted by T. S. Nowlin, who also wrote “The Adam Project” and “Pacific Rim Uprising. “”
The release of “The Deadly Cure” was delayed nearly a year after its star, O’Brien, was seriously injured during filming.
Four books in Dashner’s series — 2023’s “The Kill Order,” “The Fever Code,” “The Maze Cutter” and “The Godhead Complex” — have yet to be adapted for the screen.
When Disney acquired Fox in 2019, the media giant announced plans to produce more episodes in several Fox film franchises, adding “Avatar,” “Alien” and “The Maze Runner,” as well as “Planet of the Apes. “
The newest film in the Apes franchise, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” directed by “Maze Runner” filmmaker Wes Ball, hits theaters next Friday.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report this story.
This story was reported via TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzalez.