Still have some appetite for teens battling virus-infected undead and sinister organizations in a dystopian world? Then the latest development about The Maze Runner franchise would thrill you. Yes, it’s official – 20th Century Studios is developing a follow-up to the hit YA dystopian action adventure film series with original trilogy director Wes Ball back in the fold, producing. Will it bring back the OG cast? Are they running in a different direction this time? Read to see more on everything we know about the new Maze Runner movie.
Adapted from the YA book series by James Dashner, the first “The Maze Runner” revolves around a group of teenagers who wake up without any memory of their past lives in a walled area called The Glade. The film follows their fight to escape a prison surrounded by an intricate maze packed with deadly traps. Premiered in 2014, “The Maze Runner” immediately became a major hit, grossing $348 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. It spawned a highly successful trilogy that grossed nearly a billion dollars combined, concluding with “The Death Cure” in 2018. The last installment ended on a hopeful note as the survivors of the Flare began rebuilding civilization in their tiny island refuge – an ending that opens the doors to multiple possibilities for the future. Naturally, like everything in Hollywood, the question turns to not if, but when the story continuation might happen.
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For years, the franchise sat on the shelf as Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and the pandemic stalled development. Fueled by oversupply, the dystopian genre also experienced a decline in the late 2010s. However, like the Cranks, the franchise refuses to die and finds a way back up.
In 2024, things are finally starting to happen when 20th Century Studios announced that “The Maze Runner” reboot was in the works with Ball producing and “Transcendence” scribe Jack Paglen writing the script. The film is reportedly not a reboot nor a re-do of the original story – but a continuation set in the same universe, with elements that made the original film resonate with its audience.
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The announcement sparks speculation about whether the original cast could return for the new iteration. The Maze Runner had an ensemble cast of young actors led by Teen Wolf’s Dylan O’ Brien as Thomas. The film’s success launched him and the rest of the cast – Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Will Poulter, among others – to greater prominence. Some of their characters survive at the end of the third film, so naturally, questions abound about whether any of them will return to reprise their role.
Unfortunately, it was apparently not the case. Not yet, at least. In an interview with Screen Rant, O’Brien said the studio has not contacted him about the sequel currently in development.
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“It doesn't seem like they're interested in having me because I haven't heard about it,” the actor said when asked if he’d heard about the announcement.
He added, clearly frustrated, “They’re looking to profit from the success we built without even acknowledging it or giving us a share of the pie.”But hey, that's how it goes, baby.”
Still, O’ Brien did not rule out returning to The Maze Runner universe. After describing the impact the films had on him, he concluded by saying,” I guess I would tackle it if it were brought to me.” His response signals an openness to revisit the franchise, although what exactly the filmmakers are cooking right now, we can only guess.
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That brings us to speculation time: What would a fourth The Maze Runner film be about? In the original trilogy, Thomas and the Gladers square off against the world-destroying virus known as the Flare. By the end of The Death Cure, the original arc tied up the question of WICKED’s experiments and the fight for a cure — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more stories to tell. To this day, author Dashner has continued to expand the world he created, providing an endless source of materials that Ball and Paglen can delve into.
The Kill Order and The Fever Code went back in time rather than forward. Set decades before Thomas wakes up in the Glade, The Kill Order explores the terrifying fallout of the sun flares and the origins of the Flare virus — deadly lunacy unleashed on an already battered Earth — before WICKED ever existed. The Fever Code fills in the gaps between that devastation and Thomas entering the Maze, shedding light on how WICKED trained and conditioned the Gladers before memories were erased. Those stories are excellent for context, but they don’t push the timeline past what fans saw in The Death Cure.
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If it’s new adventures after the original trilogy they want, Dashner has already given readers a taste of what’s possible. The Maze Cutter, the first book of a sequel trilogy, is set a whopping 73 years after The Death Cure and follows descendants of Thomas and the original Gladers. In that story, islanders who survived in a supposed safe haven return to the mainland, where Cranks, the Flare-infected citizens, have evolved into something even more cunning. It’s a sort of dystopian “what happens when the next generation inherits the madness,” which could be a perfect jumping-off point for a new film, especially if Hollywood gets ambitious.
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Following The Maze Cutter, The Godhead Complex sees new protagonists like Sadina and Isaac navigating a broken world with remnants of artificial intelligence and fractured societies. And as recently as 2025, The Infinite Glade was released as another continuation, suggesting the story of this broken future isn’t done yet. Whether it dives into battle-scarred Alaska’s politics or confronts WICKED’s legacy through the eyes of distant descendants, the Maze Runner world still has countless gates wide open.
There’s also room for adaptations of those prequels or even novelizations of side tales — Crank Palace, the novella that focuses on Newt’s struggle during The Death Cure, already shows how powerful a single character’s story can be. A fourth cinematic entry could even mash up timelines or themes to give fans both nostalgia and novelty.
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However, the next Maze Runner story unfolds — whether it’s chasing new shadows in the post-apocalyptic ruins or peeling back another layer of WICKED’s moral maze — there’s plenty of room for excitement. After all, in this world, just because you escaped one Maze doesn’t mean you’ve seen them all.
