The Maze Runner Featurette Introduces You To The Gladers
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This weekend, Philip Noyce’s The Giver looks to get in on the lucrative teen dystopia market, but that’s not the only one we’re going to get over the next little bit. The Maze Runner is going to try to get in on the act next month. 20th Century Fox has stepped up the promotion for the movie since San Diego Comic-Con last month, and now they’re back to introduce the core of the cast with this new featurette.
While The Giver is a more subdued approach to the genre, director Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s best selling novel falls more in line with contemporaries like The Hunger Games and Divergent, with an emphasis on the action and melodrama.
The story follows Thomas (Dylan O’Brien, Teen Wolf), a young man who wakes up in an enclosed space called the Glade with no idea who he is or how he got there. Within these confines are a bunch of other boys in similar situations, and every morning the giant walls that hold them in open up to reveal a sprawling, ever-changing maze. This mystery holds the key to their escape and survival, and this video gives you an un close and personal introduction to the residents of the Glade, who call themselve Gladers.
You get to meet Thomas, as well as key players like the villain (Will Poulter), the main maze runner—the boys who explore the puzzle every day—Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s Newt, and Kaya Scodelario, who plays Teresa, the first ever female to arrive in the Glade. Her arrival signals a chaotic change and a wider mystery, and that’s when things really get crazy.
There’s not a ton to this featurette, but you get a good idea of the pseudo-Lord of the Flies thing the boys have going on. After all, get a bunch of teenagers together with no supervision, things are going to get a little bit nuts. Most of the actors spend their face time talking about how well the entire ensemble cast got along, as well as how much fun they had making this movie, and it definitely does look like they’re having a good time. There’s a ton of laughter and roughhousing and those kinds of shenanigans on display here.
The Maze Runner screened for an audience of fans at Comic-Con, and while the deck was stacked in their favor—the crowd was full of fans who waited for hours in a long line—the response was overwhelmingly positive. Now if they can get audiences who are unfamiliar with the source material this enthused about the movie, the studio might really have something on their hands.
The Maze Runner opens everywhere next month on September 19.
