American Cinema (Independent) : The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner is a dystopian, science fiction, action, thriller movie that follows a group of boys  (and one girl) who together go through a maze to try and find the outside world again. It is based of the first book in the highly successful series from the same name which sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide. The movie was number 23 on young-adult book adaptations (the fact the harry potter, hunger games and twilight series are all individually shown should be taken into consideration) and number 13 for sci-fi based on a book; However the movie received mixed reviews due to the 'ending and the lack of plot clarity'. Yet it continued to make 10x its budget (budget being $34 million) with $300.3 million profit. Why?

Maybe considering the stars of the movie are already famous in the teen genre of tv and film? Dylan O'Brien made his 'big break' in hit fantasy show 'Teen Wolf' which at the time had just finished it's 4th season. Possibly this timing was made so fans would still be excited about seeing Dylan again in a film/tv format. The role is also new for him with his 'Teen Wolf' character being very sarcastic and funny but his 'Maze Runner' character being very serious. This again could attract audiences and critics alike to see his take on the scenario. Thomas Brodie-Sanger, Kaya Scodelario and Will Poulter are also featured in the film and are famous for portraying quite serious roles; so audiences would know they would see good acting for the genre. Also because the film was only a PG-13, the majority of the teen audience which the film is aimed at could be eligible to see it; it also means those younger would have to take their parents which would bring even more income.

The film was also marketed very thoroughly. They already had some marketing free from the fact the film was based on a book that comes from a larger series; this gives them more potential and a higher percentage of being successful with sequels/prequels because people know there are more and the book series was already a massive success. The Director, Wes Ball, also released one image a week leading up to the film's release that showed either a character or a still from the movie. Considering the characters have never been visually shown besides the movie, this would be the first time they are presented to the book fans; henceforth showing the characters in small clips entices audiences.