It’s not The Hunger Games. But it’s still huge. The third film in the $600-million The Maze Runner trilogy — adapted from James Dasher’s novels — starts filming next week, with Cache Creek as desert landscape the Scorch.
In The Maze Runner, teenaged Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) finds himself in a field near a massive labyrinth with no memory of his past life. He soon becomes a runner with Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Gally (Will Poulter) and along with Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) — the only female Glader– convinces the group that he can find a way out of the ever-changing maze where they are chased by robotic monsters. Shot in Louisiana, The Maze Runner grossed about $350 million in box office worldwide.
The maze was only the beginning. In The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the Gladers escape a mysterious government organization known as WCKD into a desolate, desert landscape called the Scorch filled with virus-infected Cranks.. There they team up with resistance fighters Right Arm to challenge WCKD’s massive forces. Filmed in New Mexico, The Scorch Trials grossed about $310 million in box office worldwide.
Escape.
In upcoming The Maze Runner: The Death Cure, WCKD uses Thomas and his fellow Gladers as test subjects for a manmade disease called The Flare. Teaming up with resistance fighters Right Arm, they work to shut down WCKD for good. The Death Cure takes place a year or so after the Scorch Trials., with a grittier, more film noir look. Update: The Scorch will be played by Cache Creek, where The X-Files shot its Roswell alien spaceship crash. Workers are constructing sets at the airport for stunts, according to InfoNews.ca.
All three films are directed by Wes Ball and scripted by T.S. Nowlin.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure is expected to film in metro Vancouver from March 14th to June 3rd (dates subject to change) according to the DGC-BC Production List.
And to open in theatres on February 17th, 2017
Addendum: