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'The Maze Runner' will hit the big screen next February

'The Maze Runner,' James Dashner's young adult novel and the first of a trilogy, is being adapted into a film starring 'Teen Wolf' actor Dylan O'Brien.

'The Maze Runner' by James Dashner is the first of a trilogy.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The young adult novel “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner is set to become a film that will be released next February.

“The Maze Runner” follows Thomas, a boy who wakes up with no memory except that of his name only to find himself inside an enclosed meadow-like area with other boys. A large maze is beyond their immediate surroundings, but no one has ever figured out how to get through it or how to escape.

The first book in the series was released in 2009 and is part of a trilogy detailing Thomas’s adventures. A prequel to the series, titled “The Kill Order,” was released last August.

Director Wes Ball, who is taking the helm for the first time for the movie, says Thomas is different from the others surrounding him.

“He’s curious,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “That’s partly perceived as a threat, but it actually may be the thing that gets him out.”

Dashner is writing the screenplay with Noah Oppenheim, who is working as a screenwriter for the first time but has served as producer on the MTV show “The Buried Life” and NBC’s “Today.”

Thomas will be portrayed in the movie by actor Dylan O’Brien of the TV series “Teen Wolf.” Alby, the group’s leader, will be played by actor Aml Ameen, who appeared on the NBC Kathy Bates TV series “Harry’s Law.” Newt, Alby’s second-hand man, will be played by actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who’s currently appearing on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” as Jojen Reed, a mysterious boy who can communicate with animals.

Teresa, a girl who arrives in the area known as the Glade and is the first female to do so, will be portrayed by “Skins” actress Kaya Scodelario.

Ball says the protagonist, Thomas, is different than the others with whom he’s imprisoned in the Glade. 

“Thomas is the boy who takes that step forward when everybody else takes a step back,” he said.

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