Utah author James Dashner was downright "giddy" in the weeks leading up to the big-screen release of "The Maze Runner." For a guy whose first love is movies and who regularly incorporated trips to the theater into his creative process, seeing his own work get the Hollywood treatment was "an amazing dream come true."
Since that opening weekend in September 2014, when "The Maze Runner" had an impressive showing at the box office and was well-received by critics, it's been "one pleasant surprise after another," according to Dashner.
The sequel, "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials," opens nationwide on Friday. As with the first film, Dashner worked as a consultant on the script with writer T.S. Nowlin, regularly gave input to director Wes Ball and producer Wyck Godfrey, and visited the set — "just enough involvement to feel like I’m part of the family," he wrote in an email interview. As the credits roll, Dashner's name is the second to appear.
He's experiencing all this for the second time, but the process is still thrilling for this movie enthusiast.
"It certainly, in no way, feels routine," Dashner wrote. "I still get excited about everything. But, yes, there are some aspects of it all for which I’ve calmed down a little. But only a little."
"The Scorch Trials" resumes with "the Gladers," teens who navigated their way through a deadly maze, being rushed over a post-apocalyptic landscape into a guarded safehouse. They are told that it's a "way station" and that they are all headed for "greener pastures." Other teens who had similar experiences in other mazes are also there. Each day, a list of names is read, and the group departs for a new home.
But one young boy, Aris, suspects that no one ever really leaves. Once Thomas, the leader of the Gladers, confirms those suspicions, he leads an escape into the surrounding desolation called "the Scorch," where windstorms, lightning and disease-ravaged humans called "cranks" put them in constant danger.
Dashner's Maze Runner books and movie adaptations have been labeled with the young adult genre, and "The Scorch Trials" carries the typical PG-13 rating aimed at teen audiences. The intensity, frightening images and language of the sequel, though, are elevated when compared to the books and the first film. Lead actor Dylan O'Brien, who plays Thomas, called it "like a horror movie," according to the Hollywood Reporter, which also reported that the "The Scorch Trials" "just barely escaped its initial R-rating."
Expectations are also higher this time around. "The Maze Runner" garnered a domestic gross of more than $102 million, with an additional $238 million from overseas sales, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. It earned $32.5 million over opening weekend — an impressive number for a September release. In late August, Forbes.com contributor Scott Mendelson raised the possibility that "The Scorch Trials" could break the record for the best opening weekend box office for a September film.
"Even beyond the notion that there aren’t many in-progress young adult fantasy franchises left at the moment, 'Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials' has one big advantage this time around: It’s a sequel to a pretty darn good original," Mendelson wrote. ("The Maze Runner" maintains a 64 percent "fresh" rating on the movie review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com.)
Earlier this year, it was reported by ScreenRant.com that the film based on the third book of the series, "The Death Cure," will hit theaters in February 2017.
The Maze Runner movies have changed Dashner's life and career "drastically."
"My books sold well before, but there’s just no replicating the effect of a movie," Dashner wrote. "I would say my exposure is at least 10 times what it was a couple of years ago. ... My public events aren’t the intimate, quiet affairs they used to be. I have to be much more careful about social media, what I say about my projects, timelines, etc. In some ways, it’s sad. But I wouldn’t change a thing, obviously. I still do my best to stay connected however I can with my readers."
Dashner, who is currently writing a second prequel to "The Maze Runner" and will release the third book in his Mortality Doctrine series this November, has built a reputation of being outgoing with his fans and encouraging aspiring writers. But he's learned that movie audiences are different. Most of the people who see the movies based on his work haven't read the books, he suspects.
"It was tough being thrown into the brutal world of Hollywood and movie critics when I was so used to my peaceful little world with my awesome fandom, which is like one big happy family," he wrote. "But now I’ll be better prepared."
Email: ashill@deseretnews.com
Twitter: aaronshill