It’s funny how Hollywood still hasn’t learnt that no matter how hard they try, any attempt to emulate the success of Twilight is going to fail. Many studios have pushed out YA novel adaptations in hopes of becoming the next pop culture phenomenon and almost every single effort has fallen flat on its face. Now, Fox is hoping that their contender, The Maze Runner, will break the mould as they are feeling so confident about it that they’re already working on a sequel.
The film doesn’t open for another year but feeling that they’ve got another Hunger Games or Twilight on their hands, the studio has optioned the rights to the second book in James Dashner’s series. It’s titled The Scorch Trials and it takes place right after the events of The Maze Runner.
For those who aren’t familiar with the novels, The Maze Runner is a dystopian tale that follows a group of children who live in an area called The Glades, a large area surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable maze. No one seems to know why they’re there or how they can escape and their memories of their lives before arriving in The Glades are gone.
Admittedly, it does sound like a neat premise and if executed properly, it could work out well. Then again, other YA films have also arrived with compelling plots but due to terrible execution, they’ve fallen flat on their face.
Just look at The Mortal Instruments. Expectations were huge for the film, so huge in fact that the studio set a sequel into motion before the first film even opened. As we all know, The Mortal Instruments flopped and now plans for the sequel have been delayed indefinitely.
Who knows though? Maybe The Maze Runner will be different. Maybe it will find success. I haven’t read the novel that it’s based on so it’s tough for me to say. As I mentioned above though, the premise is certainly interesting so for now, as much as I hate this recent trend of YA novel adaptations, I’ll remain hopeful that maybe, just maybe, Fox will deliver something of quality.
The Maze Runner opens on September 19th, 2014. Do you think that the film can be the next big YA adaptation? Let us know in the comments below.
