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Catherine Hardwicke in Talks to Direct 'The Maze Runner' for Fox

by Ethan Anderton
December 1, 2010
Source: The Wrap

After launching an adaptation of one of the most recent successful young adult book series with Twilight, director Catherine Hardwicke has an eye towards directing yet another youth adaptation. The Wrap has learned that the female filmmaker is in talks to direct The Maze Runner, the first book of a young adult science fiction trilogy by James Dashner. 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 dystopian set film is likely being eyed as the first in a franchise as a tentpole for 20th Century Fox much like The Hunger Games for Lionsgate.

Here's a more extensive rundown of the first Maze Runner book from the School Library Journal:

Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies from below. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in “the glade” for two years, trying to find a way to escape through a maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change.

Sounds like a Logan's Run kind of story for a younger audience, with an opportunity for a budding young actor to really launch his career. There's plenty of action too as some of the kids who are Runners venture into the labyrinth trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls while evading monsters called Grievers that live in the maze. It's a little disappointing that Catherine Hardwicke is tackling something like this since her visual style leaves something to be desired. Still the story (which is continued in the second book, The Scorch Trials)  sounds intriguing, so we'll be keeping our eye on this one. Anyone interested?

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