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Posted January 24, 2018 by Scott Davis in Features
 
 

The Preview Reel—Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide-release movies. Both 12 Strong and Den of Thieves performed better than expected last weekend, but neither could top box-office juggernaut Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. That movie’s January reign may come to an end this weekend with the final installment of the Maze Runner trilogy hitting theaters. That is the only new movie opening wide this week as many of the Oscar movies go wider this weekend after the nominations were announced earlier this week. Let’s see if you should check out Maze Runner: The Death Cure or catch up on some of the Oscar movies you may have missed.

 

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Maze Runner: The Death Cure posterWhat we are excited about: The Maze Runner franchise isn’t the worst young adult franchise out there, but it’s certainly not the best. The franchise—only two installments in—has been middle of the road, which isn’t a bad thing. The Maze Runner (2014) was a fun dystopian adventure, and while the second movie, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), had diminishing returns, it had its entertaining moments. The series is based on a trilogy of books, and thankfully the producers decided not to split the final installment into two movies (as did The Hunger Games: Mockingjay [2014-15]). The series will end after The Death Cure and we’re kind of excited to see how it all wraps up in one movie instead of two.

What we are worried about: Is there much interest surrounding this movie? The Maze Runner was a big success in 2014, but its sequel made over $35 million less worldwide than its predecessor in 2015. The Scorch Trials came out just over two years ago, but it feels like it came out a lifetime ago. Most young adult adaptations come out a year apart, so two years is an eternity. With waning interest at the box office, worse reviews, and over two years of waiting, we’re not sure anyone is excited about this movie or if they even want it.

The Buzz: As mentioned before, it’s been quite a while since Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and that has really hurt the Maze Runner brand. Fox tried getting ahead of it and screened the film early for critics to create some buzz for the film, but that hasn’t really paid off. The movie sits at 49% on RottenTomatoes and 53 on MetaCritic, which isn’t terrible, but most critics are saying this is forgettable and for fans only. Not only that, but the Academy Award nominations came out this week and many of the nominees are expanding, meaning more people will try to catch up on the season’s buzziest nominees. Maze Runner: The Death Cure will certainly open lower than its predecessors (Maze Runner opened to $32 million and The Scorch Trials to $30 million) so we’ll project $22 million for the weekend.

Final Thoughts: If you’re caught up with the Academy Award-nominated movies maybe check this out, but if you’re not, go see one of those films instead.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.