Theater Thursday: The Maze Runner

Well, next Valentine's Day is looking for YA book to movie adaptions.  A few weeks ago I talked about the adaption of Vampire Academy, scheduled to come out Feb. 14, 2014.  Well, it's not the only YA book adaption scheduled for that particular date.  We now also have The Maze Runner by James Dashner.  Even though both of these coming from YA books, they're very different types of movies, so I'm hoping they'll both do well. Since Maze Runner is another dystopia book, similar to Hunger Games and Divergent, it's seems like a pretty good release date.  Catching Fire comes out in November, and Divergent the end of March, so there shouldn't be too much competition between the three.

There isn't a lot yet on The Maze Runner.  We know Wes Ball is going to be the director, and I think James Dashner himself is doing the screen play(with some help from Noah Openheim), which is awesome.  If an author can do their own work, I always feel like the adaption turns out better because they really understand the story they were trying to tell.  It's not that other people can't do an amazing job, but I find a lot of times they put a few of their own ideas into the mix, which sometimes ends up telling a completely different story (Ella Enchanted anyone?).

Here's a quick summary of the book.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. 
Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind. Quoted from Goodreads

Doesn't that sound like it will make a great movie?  Currently they're in the process of casting the main characters, and I'm excited to see who they get.  There's all sorts of fun fan speculation out there, but I haven't heard about anything concrete yet. If you want to read more, here's a link to James Dashner's blog where he talks about what he knows.  If you want to have some fun, type in the Maze Runner book trailer on youtube.  There's about a dozen different fan-made book trailers, and it's kind of fun to see all the different versions.