When the box grinds to a halt and the lift doors open, Thomas finds himself among a colony of boys who welcome him to the Glade - a large open expanse surrounded by enormous concrete walls.
Thomas' mind is blank. He has no knowledge of where he is, doesn't know where he came from, and he can't remember his parents, his past, or even his own name.
Thomas and his fellow 'Gladers' don't know how or why they got to the Glade. They only know that each morning, giant concrete doors that lead to the Maze open. Every night at sunset they close. And every 30 days, a new boy arrives in the lift. The predictable behaviour of the Maze made Thomas' arrival expected. What's not expected is having the box appear again, less than a week later, carrying Teresa, the first girl to arrive in the Glade.
Thomas learns that each resident of the Glade has a role to play, from gardening to construction to being one of the elite runners who map the walls of the Maze that keep them captive and change configurations every night. Maze Runners race the clock to cover as much ground as possible before the end of the day when the Maze locks down and the deadly biomechanical Grievers roam the corridors of the concrete structure.
Even as a newcomer or 'greenie', Thomas feels an unsettling familiarity about the Glade and the Maze. There is something locked away in his memories that might, in fact, be the key to solving the mysteries of the Maze and possibly the world beyond.
Dashner notes that The Maze Runner is, at its heart, a very different story. "I don't think characters would react the way they do in Lord of the Flies," he explains. "I think they'd be more civilized, orderly, and determined to survive and escape. The Maze Runner is an adventure story that's also about hope and the potential of the human spirit."
The book caught the attention of producers Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman from the management/production company The Gotham Group.
"We see a lot of young adult novels," Stollman explains. "And you always look for something that has a big world creation with characters that are identifiable and something we haven't seen before," which is what they found in Dashner's book.
To adapt the novel to the screen faithfully, the studio turned to Temple Hill Entertainment producer Wyck Godfrey, who enjoyed tremendous success with the Twilight film series.
Godfrey credits his sons Wyatt and Hudson for making him aware of the Maze Runner book series. "I immediately said: 'Yes,' when 20th Century Fox came to me with the opportunity, because my kids will finally be happy I'm making a movie that works for them," he says.
To capture the big-screen expectations of The Maze Runner's dedicated fans, the production turned to first-time feature film director Wes Ball. Ball's only previous directorial effort was Ruin, a seven-minute CGI animated short that had become an online phenomenon.
When he read the screenplay of The Maze Runner, Ball knew it would be his next project. "I had this really strong image of what it looks like inside the Glade, which I saw as a raw, edgy, blown-out and naturalistic environment with imposing concrete walls surrounding it. I realised that it was a world I wanted to live over the next few years."
Ball was also drawn to the character of Thomas, the story's protagonist. "Thomas is someone who takes that step forward into the unknown when everyone else takes a step back," the young director says. "It's this idea that you have to be brave enough to face the unknown if you want to find yourself. Thomas is curious and some in the Glade perceive that as a threat, but it may be the thing that gets him out of there.
"Additionally, I love movies about world creation and this film is a world creation, top to bottom. We start in the Glade, which the boys have built, then outside those walls we enter the grand world of the Maze, and that's a whole different scenario."
If there's one aspect that contributes to the success of The Maze Runner on the big screen, it's the casting.
Leading the cast is Dylan O'Brien as the resourceful Thomas, who's convinced there's a way out of the Maze. Familiar to fans of the MTV series Teen Wolf, O'Brien has what Godfrey calls 'a great everyman quality'. "Dylan is very relatable in the way that recalls the young Tom Hanks. He's not overly glamorous and he's a great athlete. Dylan could handle the physical requirements required for the character."
O'Brien notes that despite the frightening and mystifying circumstances under which Thomas arrives in the Glade, the experience brings out the best in the character. "Until that moment he wakes up in the lift in the Glade, he's probably led a pretty sheltered life," says the actor. "Being put in this situation and under those circumstances allows him to tap into instincts and a kind of heroism that was always inside of him. He doesn't let his fear of this new and unknown world prevent him from being curious about it. It doesn't hold him back."
Thomas comes to learn that he is just one of many who have come up on that elevator once a month over a three-year period.
The leader of these Gladers is Alby, who's the closest thing to a father figure. "Alby is the main dude," says Ball. "He was the first Glader, the first boy sent up the elevator, and he had to survive an entire month by himself not knowing where he was and without any help. Then the next guy showed up. Alby figured out that order and discipline were necessary to survive in this world. He's very protective of it."
Aml Ameen was cast as the authoritative Alby. Recently seen in Lee Daniels' The Butler, Aml is 'a great new face', according to Godfrey. "He's just got gravitas, like a young Denzel Washington."
Ameen embraced the character's leadership and paternalistic qualities. "Alby creates a mythology and set of rules for the boys to live by," he explains. "They are a family and Alby thinks they were all put in the Maze for a reason. But the most important thing is that they stick together. The Gladers are a family, so Alby embodies all of these beautiful, complex things that actors love to play."
Thomas's nemesis in the Glade is Gally. Smart and intimidating, Gally wants to maintain the status quo and clashes with the new arrival. "But Gally and Thomas are really two sides of the same coin," notes Ball. "Thomas fully embraces and charges into the unknown and Gally is all about self-preservation and keeping things safe and normal."
Will Poulter, who starred in the cult film Son of Rambow, and recently showed his comic skill in We're the Millers, portrays Gally. Godfrey says: "Will's the perfect Gally because you don't want to mess with him, and he's an intelligent adversary."
Gally's trust in and insistence on the status quo is not without good reason, says Poulter. "He's not so much the law keeper as he is a guy who has a lot of faith in the rules, because without them, the Gladers will die," he explains. "So Gally is quick to speak up and challenge Thomas when those rules aren't respected. To him, those laws are life itself."
Novelist Dashner also rejects the idea that Gally is a villain. "I wanted to set him up as a major rival to Thomas, but I also wanted readers to empathise with him and understand his beliefs and actions," he says.
Alby's lieutenant, Newt, is played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who appears in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones and first gained attention for his performance in Love, Actually. Of Newt, Godfrey says: "He's second in command, but not really ready to take charge. Thomas just has this quality I remember from Newt in the book - he's a bit of a rascal."
"Newt is Number 2 in the Glade," echoes Ball. "If Alby's not there, Newt takes up the reins, but he's not really up to the challenge and it makes a kind of power vacuum with Gally, who prefers to do things his way."
Newt walks with a limp that's not fully explained because it's something he'd prefer not to talk about. Nevertheless, Brodie-Sangster says the character is 'the fun one of the group, the one that everyone gets along with. The Gladers come to Newt with their problems because they like and trust him'.
British actress Kaya Scodelario plays the only young woman among the Gladers, Teresa, who has a mysterious connection with Thomas. Having made her name with the UK TV series Skins, Scodelario impressed the filmmakers by being 'one of the guys', as Godfrey puts it. "She's badass, which is what you need to be if you're going to be thrust into the world of the Glade with all these young men."
The elite among the Gladers are called Runners, whose athleticism propels them through the Maze each day, which helps them compile a map of the foreboding structure and, maybe, figure out a way to escape. Their captain is Minho, played by Ki Hong Lee. The young actor grew to understand his position of leadership among the Gladers in a very individual way. "I looked at the Marines and the army and, and I consider Minho like a general of the Gladers," Lee explains, "It's his job to rally the troops."
The youngest Glader is Chuck, a likeable and loyal kid who looks up to Thomas and works as a Slopper - the Gladers who aren't good at any of the other jobs. "He's this adorable kid - sort of like a little brother character," says Ball. "He tries hard, and nobody expects much out of him, though he gets his hero moments."
If you are looking for ideal escapism, join the gang and experience the thrills and chills of The Maze Runner. It's well worth it.
Read more about The Maze Runner and other new releases at www.writingstudio.co.za
