Good news,Maze Runnerfans. The indefinite hiatus onThe Death Cure, the third installment in the YA saga, has come to an end. Earlier this year, production on the film was halted when starDylan O’Briensuffered a significant on-set injury and the future of the franchise was left in question, with the actor needing time to heal and the studio needing time to sort out the new schedule. Now,Deadlinereports thatThe Death Curewill move back into production in February 2017 – right about when the film was originally scheduled to land in theaters.
Back in March, when O’Brien suffered a concussion and facial fracture on the Vancouver set, filming was initially slated to pick up on May 9th, but after his injuries were found to be more severe than they first seemed, Fox putThe Death Cureon an indefinite hold and rescheduled the release date from August 16, 2025, to August 12, 2025.
While O’Brien needed time to mend, it seems working out a new schedule was also a significant factor in the delay as the cast and crew were released following the second postponement. But now, those scheduling issues have been sorted and production will resume early next year in a new location.The Maze RunnerandThe Scorch TrialsdirectorWes Ballremains on board to helm the latest installment in the franchise, which also starsKaya Scodelario,Rosa Salazar,Thomas Brodie-Sangster,Ki Hong Lee, andDexter Darden. As with the previous films, the screenplay comes fromT.S. Nowlinwho is adapting fromJames Dashner’s series of novels.
It will be interesting to see how The Death Cure fares when it finally arrives in theaters. The franchise kicked off when the YA genre was a dominant force in pop culture thanks to the rampant success of Twilight andThe Hunger Games, but the genre’s influence has waned significantly in the years since.The Divergentsaga has faced a rough road thanks to that declining interest, with recent YA additions The Fifth Wave and The BFG underperforming. By 2018,The Death Curemaybe something of a rarity in the entertainment landscape, butThe Maze Runnerfans are a pretty dedicated bunch, so I’m very intrigued to see how the movie is ultimately received.
Regardless of the business side, here’s hoping O’Brien is well on his way to recovery and makes a full return whenThe Death Cureroles into production next year.
