Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (also known simply as The Death Cure) is a 2018 American dystopian science fiction action film directed by Wes Ball and written by T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel The Death Cure written by James Dashner. It is the sequel to the 2015 film Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and the third and final installment in the Maze Runner film series. The film stars Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Walton Goggins, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Katherine McNamara, Barry Pepper, Will Poulter, Rosa Salazar, and Patricia Clarkson.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure was originally set to be released on February 17, 2017, in the United States by 20th Century Fox, but the studio rescheduled the film's release for January 26, 2018, in theatres and IMAX, allowing time for O'Brien to recover from injuries he sustained during filming. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $288 million worldwide.

Plot
Thomas, Minho, and Frypan are the last of the free "Gladers" immune to the Flare virus that has ravaged the world's population. They and The Right Arm resistance conduct a rescue operation where they retrieve other Immunes from a train operated by WCKD, an organization responsible for capturing and experimenting on immune children. They discover that Minho, their remaining Glader friend whom WCKD had captured, was not on that train, which is headed to "The Last City", WCKD's base of operations. Against the orders of Vince, leader of The Right Arm, the three leave their camp to rescue Minho, who is being tortured by WCKD in hopes of developing a cure for the virus. Heading for the Last City, the group is attacked by Cranks, humans infected with the Flare. However, they are saved by Jorge and Brenda, who join them.

The group makes it to the wall of the Last City, which protects the city from Cranks. Outside the wall, people are rallying in protest to be let into the city. When WCKD opens fire at the protesters, the group is captured by a contingent of masked men and are taken to a hideout. One of the masked men is revealed to be Gally, who survived Minho's attack. Gally takes them to see Lawrence, a rebellion leader for those outside the walls, who helps them enter the Last City through a secret entrance. Gally leads Thomas and Newt through to the city and, spotting Teresa, Gally tells Thomas that he can get them into WCKD headquarters. Newt then confides to Thomas that he is infected. Promising to cure him, the three capture Teresa.

Disguised as WCKD soldiers, Thomas, Newt, and Gally escort Teresa inside WCKD headquarters and toward the location of the Immunes. Gally looks after the Immune children and stays to find a serum that slows the Flare, while Thomas, Newt, and Teresa go to find Minho. They are discovered and chased by Janson. Teresa lets them escape to find Minho before rushing to do a blood test on Thomas' blood, which she obtained when removing trackers from the Gladers.

Having delivered the Immune children and the serum to Brenda, Gally returns to WCKD headquarters to find Thomas. Brenda is forced to flee with the Immune children to avoid capture. Thomas and Newt reunite with Minho in the medical wing. Teresa discovers that Thomas' blood can cure the Flare. She shares her discovery with WCKD's leader, Ava Paige, both agreeing that they must find Thomas. Brenda and the Immune children escape WCKD with Frypan's help. Meanwhile, Lawrence rallies his rebels outside the city before blowing a hole in the city wall, sacrificing himself to allow his allies and the infected people to storm the city. Gally finds Thomas, Minho, and Newt. Newt, sending Minho and Gally ahead to get the serum from Brenda, gives Thomas a pendant before passing out. Teresa transmits her voice throughout the city, telling Thomas that his blood can save Newt if he will only return to WCKD. Newt, nearly consumed by the Flare, regains consciousness and attacks Thomas, while begging Thomas to kill him. When Thomas refuses, Newt – left with no other option – stabs himself.

Thomas makes his way back to WCKD and confronts Ava. However, she is killed by Janson, who is infected by the Flare. Janson knocks Thomas out and drags him to a lab where Teresa is ready to extract his blood. However, he reveals that he is only truly interested in curing himself and others that he feels are worthy, which results in Teresa turning on him. After a fight, Janson is killed by Cranks, allowing Thomas and Teresa to escape to the rooftop, where Teresa gives Thomas a vial with the cure. Their allies suddenly appear in an aircraft: Thomas makes it aboard, but Teresa dies when the headquarters collapses in on itself.

The group reunites with the rest of the Immunes and The Right Arm, escaping to a safe haven, where the remaining population can live in safety. There, Thomas discovers that the pendant Newt gave him had a note in it. Still traumatized by his friends' deaths, he reads the note, in which Newt tells him that he was only scared of becoming a crank rather than dying and to look after everyone, before thanking Thomas for being his friend. While standing on the beach and looking out towards the ocean, Thomas takes the vial of the cure out of his pocket and looks expectantly into the sunrise.

Cast

 * Dylan O'Brien as Thomas
 * Kaya Scodelario as Teresa
 * Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt
 * Dexter Darden as Frypan
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Harriet
 * Giancarlo Esposito as Jorge
 * Aidan Gillen as Janson
 * Walton Goggins as Lawrence
 * Ki Hong Lee as Minho
 * Jacob Lofland as Aris
 * Katherine McNamara as Sonya
 * Barry Pepper as Vince
 * Will Poulter as Gally
 * Rosa Salazar as Brenda
 * Patricia Clarkson as Ava Paige

Production
In March 2015, it was confirmed that T.S. Nowlin, who co-wrote the first and wrote the second film, would adapt Maze Runner: The Death Cure. On September 16, 2015, it was confirmed that Ball would return to direct the final film.

Filming
Principal photography began on March 14, 2016, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Previously it was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con International that filming would begin in February 2016.

On March 18, 2016, it was reported that actor Dylan O'Brien was injured on set and was hospitalized. James Dashner announced via Twitter that the production was postponed after the accident. It was said that the producers were "looking to" resume filming around mid-May. According to the Directors Guild of Canada's production list, the film was scheduled to resume filming on May 9, and complete principal photography on July 26. However, on April 29, 2016, production was shut down indefinitely as O'Brien's injuries were more serious than previously thought.

Filming resumed on March 6, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. In May 2017, it was announced that Walton Goggins would play the part of Lawrence, described as "an unusual and dangerous character who is part-revolutionary, part-anarchist, and a voice for the voiceless people." Principal photography wrapped on June 3, 2017.

Visual effects
The visual effects are provided by Weta Digital and Supervised by Chris White

Release
It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on February 17, 2017. However, due to Dylan O'Brien's injuries, the studio said that it was unlikely that this date was going to be met. On May 27, 2016, 20th Century Fox rescheduled the film for January 12, 2018, allowing time for Dylan O'Brien to fully recover.

On April 22, 2017, the studio delayed the release date once again, to February 9, 2018, in order to allow more time for post-production; months later, on August 25, the studio moved the release forward two weeks. The film premiered on January 26, 2018, in theatres and IMAX.

Home media
Maze Runner: The Death Cure was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 24, 2018.

Box office
Maze Runner: The Death Cure grossed $58million in the United States and Canada, and $230.1million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $288.2million, against a production budget of $62million.

In the United States and Canada, The Death Cure was released alongside the wide expansion of Hostiles, and was expected to gross around $20 million from 3,786 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.5 million from Thursday night previews, in between the $1.1 million made by the first film and $1.7 million by the second, and $8.4 million on its first day. It ended up opening to $24.2 million, down from the previous film but still finishing atop the box office. In its second weekend the film dropped 57% to $10.5 million, finishing second behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

A week prior to its North American release, the film debuted in South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, grossing $15.1 million over its opening weekend. During the first two weeks of international release, the film dominated the international box office taking $62.6 and $35.2 million respectively, and outpacing the two previous films.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 42% based on 144 reviews, and an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Maze Runner: The Death Cure may offer closure to fans of the franchise, but for anyone who hasn't already been hooked, this bloated final installment is best left unseen." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.