The release date of the third instalment in The Maze Runner franchise, The Death Cure, has been up in the air for a while. With Dylan O’Brien’s on-set injury bringing the film’s production to a halt, we didn’t know if the film was ever going to see the light of day. Yet, there’s hope on the horizon. According to Deadline (via Collider), The Death Cure has a new schedule with production set to begin again in February 2017.
The rather severe concussion and a facial fracture that O’Brien suffered on-set meant Fox had to push back production. After some rest time, O’Brien will return to film the latest instalment in The Maze Runner series.
Wes Ball, who directed the previous film, The Scorch Trials, remains in the directing chair for The Death Cure. The cast stays the same, with Kaya Scodelario, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, and Dexter Darden all starring.
T.S. Nowlin has written the film’s script for The Death Cure, which he adapted from the young adult (YA) books written by James Dashner. The original movie in the series, The Maze Runner, hit cinemas at a time when YA was still huge. Since the time of Twilight and The Hunger Games though, the YA genre has struggled to produce hits. It’s clear that people are losing interest. We only have to look at the poor box office scores for films in The Divergent series and Spielberg’s BFG this year. With another year on top of that, The Death Cure could just be too late.
Whatever happens to the film, one thing is abundantly clear — the crew’s dedication. Though O’Brien has suffered injuries and production has been set back, the team is very dedicated to getting the film made. That’s surely enough for us cinema-goers to give the film a shot.
Image: 20th Century Fox