Maze Runner 2 has actually already been in the works two weeks before "The Maze Runner" even hit the big screens. It looks like 20th Century Fox is really pushing forward with this latest young adult book-to-movie franchise.
The author of "The Maze Runner" series is James Dashner. It is an immensely popular young adult dystopian series that he started on back in 2009. It talks about the inhabitants of a mysterious maze, who were not placed inside the maze of their own accord. They had no idea how they got there, nor how to get out. They could not even grasp what the maze's purpose was in the first place.
After the success of the book sales of "The Maze Runner," Dashner then proceeded to further make two sequels, "The Scorch Trials" in 2010 and "The Death Cure" in 2011, and a prequel "The Kill Order" in 2012.
Given the fact that 20th Century Fox already has the production stages for "Maze Runner 2" underway, it only means to show that the company is betting big on Dashner's vision. "The Scorch Trials" has even started production in New Mexico two weeks before "The Maze Runner" hit theaters.
Wes Ball, the director of "The Maze Runner," told BuzzFeed, "We've got stages. We've got crews coming in. Dylan will be back in a few weeks. We're building sets and the script is being written. It's a bit of a race this time because we're cautiously optimistic, but we're feeling excited we're about to do something that's way more sophisticated, way more grown up, and really set up a saga here."
As soon as numerous movie-makers got wind of the global success of "The Hunger Games," they have started to turn to young adult books, in the hopes of finding the next big box office franchise. However, it would seem that this is easier said than done, as some reportedly failed book-to-movie attempts can attest, such as "Vampire Academy" by The Weinstein Company, "Beautiful Creatures" by Warner Bros., and "The Mortal Instruments" by Screen Gems.
