Come September 18, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is primed to pick up directly where its predecessor left off, as 20th Century Fox pushes full steam ahead on its YA adaptation of James Dashner’s popular literary series. Looking beyond the sequel is director Wes Ball, who is already kicking around ideas for the next installment in the cinematic franchise, which will be based on Dashner’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
Rather than splitting the trilogy-capper into two parts in the vein of Harry Potter and, more recently, Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games, Ball has allayed early fears that Fox will needlessly stretch the source material to accommodate two movies. Taking place a full year after the events of this year’s The Scorch Trials, the filmmaker noted that the threequel stands as an interesting proposition from a creative standpoint precisely because it gives the team breathing room to flex their creative muscles, as opposed to the minute gap between the original film and September’s follow-up.
Here, Collider talks with the returning director on his early plans and how he will approach The Death Cure.
“This next one will be cool because we’re gonna cut maybe a year later. Yeah, so it’ll be cool. Some things have happened off screen, which is gonna make the movie feel even bigger. We’re working on it right now, basically. And we’re actually gonna shoot in February and then release in the next February so it’ll be another tight run.”
After exposing moviegoers to the arid terrain of the Scorch, it’s little wonder that Ball is anticipating the chance to tackle a new environment with the threequel, which could begin filming as early as February. Focusing on the here and now, though, and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is now right around the corner, with today heralding the release of a pulse-pounding new clip.
Before work begins on the third installment, Wes Ball will bring the Gladers back to the fray when Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials makes a break for theaters on September 18.
In this next chapter of the epic “Maze Runner” saga, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
