Maze Runner

[Airwings]

The story follows a boy named Thomas who wakes up in a strange place called the Glade with no memory aside from his first name. The Glade is an enclosed structure populated by other boys, and is surrounded by tall, stone walls that protect them from monsters called Grievers that live in the Maze, which surrounds the walls around the Glade.

Every day, some of the kids who are Runners venture into the labyrinth trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit.

As soon as Thomas arrives, unusual things begin to happen and the others grow suspicious of him. The Maze seems familiar to Thomas, but he's unable to make sense of the place despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner.

When the first girl arrives in the Glade, she brings a message that she will be the last one to ever arrive in the Glade, as the end is near.

http://www.movieweb.com/movie/the-maze-runner

I sense inspiration from ancient Hellas here. The mythological maze isn't unkown to younger readers, as it has been used in Percy Jackson and Philip Caveney's books about Alec Devlin. But Maze Runner is more sci fi than fantasy, and I think the maze is a different thing here.
Hardwicke isn't the best of directors for this, though. She directed the worst Twilight film, and she destroyed the Red Riding Hood fairytale.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

great, sounds like a pretty interesting concept, but hardwicke's gonna turn it into an emo rock music video like she does every movie she directs.

 

[Airwings]

DarkSovereignty: Noo need to worry.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/ruin-director-wes-ball-lands-the-maze-runner-directing-gig-at-fox/

 

[:eek:]

Aml Ameen Cast In "The Maze Runner"

By Garth Franklin Sunday March 17th 2013 08:43AM
British actor Aml Ameen ("Kidulthood," "The Butler") has landed a role in the Wes Ball-directed film adaptation of James Dashner's young adult novel "The Maze Runner" at Temple Hill Entertainment and the Gotham Group.
The $25-30 million project is set in a postapocalyptic era in which a boy who remembers only his first name wakes up in a community packed with boys called the Glade, which is surrounded by a huge maze.
Ameen will play Alby, the honorable but stern leader of the Gladers. Will Poulter is already onboard, while Thomas Brodie-Sangster is in negotiations for a role.
Shooting kicks off this spring in Louisiana.
Source: Heat Vision

 

[Airwings]

Sangster?! Oh, that's great! Hope the film will get some coverage by the press

 

[Octoberist]

Man, what a rough and rushed schedule...

 

[Project862006]

Kaya Scodelario is Female Lead
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayl...-joins-ya-adaptation-the-maze-runner-20130408

 

[Bowie]

Maybe it's being directed by Chris Hardwicke, from Talking Dead and Singled Out fame.

 

[Octoberist]

you're forgetting nerdist. But what does Heis have to do withy his unless..he's dating this girl?

 

[Sawyer]

I saw Dylan O'Brien has been cast as the lead.

 

[Octoberist]

New Stills:

More here:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=106126

 

[Octoberist]

Logo revealed:

Plus, it's taking social media by storm:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MazeRunnerMovie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MazeRunnerMovie
Tumblr: http://mazerunnermovie.tumblr.com

More here, including some behind-the-scenes pics:
http://www.hypable.com/2013/07/01/t...aunches-official-twitter-tumblr-and-facebook/

 

[Ultimatehero]

Awesome. Seriously hopes this further launches Dylan's career. I really think he has a great future ahead of him. He just captures that every guy quality while having perfect comedic timing.

 

[TheVileOne]

Looks like the Hunger Games.

 

[Octoberist]

What worries me is that it has the same vibe as 'Beautiful Creatures' or 'Eragon' where it's a blatant cash-in due to a trend and won't even try to be faithful or good. Same thing with 'Vampire ACADEMY'. Pander, pander, pander, cash-in!

BUT...

..Where as 'Divergant' may come off as a 'Hunger Games' knock-off to the unaware, the movie has a chance to stand on its own and be decent due to the talent behind it. 'The Mortal Instrument' is a wild card at this point. So there's hope in the world of Young Adult adaptations.

I hope I'm wrong about 'Maze Runner' because I think Wes Ball is a good visualist. But this being his first film, he could be bullied into making something conventional and uninteresting by Fox. Also the scheduling is pretty tight, so we'll see if it'll be polished by the time it's released. I have a feeling if it's legitimately good, Fox may push it back a bit to give Ball some more time to finish it.

 

[Ultimatehero]

I'm really getting no Hunger Game vibes from it at all. Visually do they use the same palette? For some things, but HG didn't have that palette first - most to a lot of films that take place in the woods DO. And the plot so far sounds nothing like it; waking up in a strange land and having to figure out how you got there - really what Hunger Games was all about (or is there a tournament with political ramifications the synopsis doesn't go into?).

 

[Octoberist]

Of course, you're talking to 'Vile One' for those who are confused out there!

 

[Sawyer]

What worries me is that it has the same vibe as 'Beautiful Creatures' or 'Eragon' where it's a blatant cash-in due to a trend and won't even try to be faithful or good. Same thing with 'Vampire Diaries'. Pander, pander, pander, cash-in!

BUT...

..Where as 'Divergant' may come off as a 'Hunger Games' knock-off to the unaware, the movie has a chance to stand on its own and be decent due to the talent behind it. 'The Mortal Instrument' is a wild card at this point. So there's hope in the world of Young Adult adaptations.

I hope I'm wrong about 'Maze Runner' because I think Wes Ball is a good visualist. But this being his first film, he could be bullied into making something conventional and uninteresting by Fox. Also the scheduling is pretty tight, so we'll see if it'll be polished by the time it's released. I have a feeling if it's legitimately good, Fox may push it back a bit to give Ball some more time to finish it.

You've never actually watched the show, have you? Granted, it undoubtedly started as "Twilight for TV", but it's really it's own thing now. And much, MUCH better than Twilight.

 

[Octoberist]

I'm so sorry, I meant VAMPIRE ACADEMY NOT VAMPIRE DIARIES.

 

[MadVillainy]

BUt TVD did gain steam because of Twilight and the vampire craze, right? Same with True Blood


Either way I hope this is good. Dylan O Brien is a good actor and i want to see him do well

 

[Sawyer]

TVD more so than True Blood. I think True Blood might have premiered before the first Twilight hit.

 

[MadVillainy]

^^^Really? Huh...

Either way:

I'm really getting no Hunger Game vibes from it at all. Visually do they use the same palette? For some things, but HG didn't have that palette first - most to a lot of films that take place in the woods DO. And the plot so far sounds nothing like it; waking up in a strange land and having to figure out how you got there - really what Hunger Games was all about (or is there a tournament with political ramifications the synopsis doesn't go into?).

It's not the exact same thing as some have said and I think that's hyperbole. But Maze Runner is in the same lane. Hell when you type in Maze Runner into Google 2 similar books that immediatly pop up are Hunger Games and Divergent. It's just a case of following trends. As Octoberist pointed out look what happened after Twilight where we got Vampire Diaries and just more paranomoral romance movies. Now the new big thing, Hunger Games, seems to be inspiring the production of these teen dystopian tales.

Look at it like this: "Young (or at least supposed to be young) teens get caught up in a violent, dystopian sci fi society. One kid (Katniss in Hunger Games, Shailene Woodley's character in Divergent, Dylan O'Brien's character in Maze Runner) comes along and changes everything.

That's the bare bones true but I do see some similarity. Another example, say Marvel makes the Runaways and it's their next Iron Man and it does big numbers. Then DC puts out Teen Titans not long after. Runaways and Teen Titans are different, but theyre in the same lane of "teens" with superheroes/super powers. Even the Giver (whose book came out way before the Hunger Games) another story of a young kid in a dystopian future got the green light after The Hunger Games came out. Although The Giver is way different from MAze Runner, Hunger Games, or Divergent.

But that shouldnt matter as long as the film turns out good

 

[Ultimatehero]

I've just always hated and disagreed with those generalizations. It's why those films got green lit, but on the creative end they aren't setting out to replicate it. And stating that they do undersells all of the creative guys which I guess is the thing that irks me about it. There's a difference between a studio green lighting something because a genre is similar and saying that the creative team set out to replicate it. One is laying out an accurate representation of how some things get green lit. The other is painting an inaccurate picture of the thought going into it from the creative team and completely undersells them.

 

[Octoberist]

The bottom line is this: If Hunger Games never got made, you wouldn't see movies like Divergent or Maze Runner. And dare I say even Ender's Game even if it's based on a classic story. Hunger Games opened up the door for this sort of genre, with every studio trying to win that Young Adult market..even with a classic like Ender's Game.

*I left out 'Mortal Instruments' because I think they would've been made due to Twilight anyway. Young Adult nevertheless.

 

[Ultimatehero]

The bottom line is this: Studio suits don't represent the creative guys. Studio suits green light something because they deem it might be successful, true. Creative guys do NOT set out to replicate, they're just given the chance to do what they want to do because thankfully it's been proven to the suits that it can work. One way of thinking looks at things logically, the other undersells a creative team by leaps and bounds.