After debuting with a strong $32.5 million over the weekend, 20th Century Fox’s The Maze Runner is on its way to becoming a successful movie franchise.
The studio already has plans for a sequel, titled The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, set to hit theaters on September 18, 2015, the same weekend the first movie was released. Dylan O’Brien will return to reprise his role as Thomas.
With it being a Young Adult film, it was no surprise the post-apocalyptic action movie headed straight to the top on the box office charts, pushing down holdover Guardians of the Galaxy to the No. 6 spot.
While it did well domestically, The Maze Runner, directed by Wes Ball, pulled in an additional $37.6 million overseas, totaling out to $82.5 million worldwide, according to Deadline.
Scorch Trials will be based on the second book in the trilogy written by James Dashner and will pick up where the first story ended – where the stars have to attempt to get used to life outside the maze.
Below is the second novel’s plot description:
Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch. There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die. The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off. There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.
Upon release, the sequel will compete against action-adventure film Everest, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin, and Johnny Depp’s untitled Whitey Bulger biopic.
