FIRST LOOK

Towering Concept Art from Fox's Adaptation of 'The Maze Runner'

by Ethan Anderton
May 9, 2013
Source: EW

Along with Divergent starring Shailene Woodley, and The Mortal Instruments starring Lily Collins, another young adult novel adaptation attempting to follow in the footsteps of The Hunger Games is The Maze Runner. Based on James Dashner's 2009 book of the same name, the story follows a young man named Thomas who wakes up in an industrual elevator not knowing anything but his own name. He's with a large community of boys trapped in the center of a maze in a mysterious place called The Glade, and the only way out is to navigate the huge maze which changes nightly and is full of creatures called Grievers. More below!

Here's the first piece of concept art from Wes Ball's The Maze Runner, via EW:

What really makes this story interesting is the parameters by which the maze can be navigated. The giant doors leading into the maze open up in the morning, and close when it gets dark. And you better be sure to make it back before then, because no one survives a night inside the maze. Over time, the boys learn that they can't map the maze each day because the walls shift overnight, despite the obviously massive scale of the maze itself. But our hero, played by The First Time and "Teen Wolf" TV series star Dylan O'Brien, "is the boy who takes that step forward when everybody else takes a step back," says director Wes Ball.

The film from 20th Century Fox is described as an amalgamation of The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies and the TV series "Lost." Those are some pretty bright stars to shoot for, but the story does sound intriguing. There's a lot of mystery as to how these boys got there, and what happens when they get out. Plus, most of them don't even remember who they are. This has the potential to be a cool, sci-fi story for youths and adults alike, and it will likely play pretty well with the crowd that is responding to The Hunger Games so well. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

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