The Maze Runner: Books vs. Movies
The three Maze Runner movies, released between 2014 and 2018, are adapted from James Dashner's three books, published between 2009 and 2011. Each book has its own page here; this one is the series as a whole.
From Books Adapted
How much of the book it covers
Contains spoilersTap to show
The second and third movies rearrange two books
The movies use the original trilogy's titles, but The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure do not keep all their events in the same order as the books. Wes Ball said he treated those two books as a story from which to build two connected movies.
| Movie | Books and coverage |
|---|---|
| The Maze Runner (2014) | The Maze Runner (book 1), through the escape from the maze, with changes. |
| Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) | Mainly The Scorch Trials (book 2), bringing characters and the resistance story forward from The Death Cure (book 3). |
| Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) | Mainly The Death Cure, with material moved from The Scorch Trials, completing Thomas's movie story. |
The original three-book story has been adapted. The prequels The Kill Order and The Fever Code have not received their own adaptations. Neither has the later Maze Cutter trilogy: The Maze Cutter, The Godhead Complex, and The Infinite Glade.
A new movie was reported in development in May 2024. That announcement did not identify a particular book as its source, so it does not establish an adaptation of either prequel or the later trilogy.
What changed from the book
The Right Arm arrives earlier in the movies
The resistance group called the Right Arm comes from The Death Cure. The movies introduce it in The Scorch Trials.
Ball said he wanted to bring that opposition to WCKD into the story earlier. It puts the two sides in place before the third movie begins.
Aris becomes a younger-brother figure
Ball read Aris in the books as someone much like Thomas. With several similar young men already in the cast, he changed Aris into a younger-brother figure for the movies.
Every movie has its own page
Vote on them one at a time: each has its own question, results and comments.
- Book 1
The Maze RunnerMovie, 2014 · Directed by Wes Ball · 1 hr 53 minFrom The Maze Runner · 2009 · 375 pagesWes Ball’s 2014 film The Maze Runner is adapted from James Dashner’s 2009 novel. The story follows a memoryless teenager trapped in the Glade, where a changing maze and its Grievers stand between the residents and escape.Which was better? Vote - Book 2
Maze Runner: The Scorch TrialsMovie, 2015 · Directed by Wes Ball · 2 hr 11 minFrom The Scorch Trials · 2010 · 384 pagesWes Ball’s 2015 film Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is adapted from James Dashner’s 2010 sequel. Thomas and the Gladers leave the Maze behind and cross a world devastated by the Flare.Which was better? Vote - Book 3
Maze Runner: The Death CureMovie, 2018 · Directed by Wes Ball · 2 hr 23 minFrom The Death Cure · 2011 · 358 pagesWes Ball’s 2018 film Maze Runner: The Death Cure is adapted from James Dashner’s 2011 novel. Thomas faces WCKD’s final plans while the Flare threatens the people he is trying to save.Which was better? Vote
The books, in order
Details
- Author
- James Dashner
- Year
- 2009
- Pages
- 375
- Audiobook length
- 10 hr 50 min
- Narrator
- Mark Deakins
- Series
- The Maze Runner, book 1
Thomas wakes inside a metal lift with no memory beyond his name and emerges into the Glade, a settlement run by boys who arrived the same way. Beyond its walls, Runners map a shifting maze inhabited by deadly Grievers, but the arrival of Teresa, the first girl and apparently the last newcomer, signals that the system around them is changing.
Details
- Author
- James Dashner
- Year
- 2010
- Pages
- 384
- Audiobook length
- 10 hr 23 min
- Narrator
- Mark Deakins
- Series
- The Maze Runner, book 2
After escaping the Maze, Thomas and the other Gladers learn that their ordeal was only the first phase of WICKED’s experiment. Told they carry the Flare, they are given two weeks to cross the devastated Scorch and reach a promised safe haven, while another test group and WICKED’s manipulation turn friendship and trust into part of the trial.
Details
- Author
- James Dashner
- Year
- 2011
- Pages
- 358
- Audiobook length
- 8 hr 55 min
- Narrator
- Mark Deakins
- Series
- The Maze Runner, book 3
WICKED declares its trials complete and offers to restore the Gladers’ memories, but Thomas no longer believes the organization’s promises. After learning that some of his friends are not immune to the Flare, he chooses escape over cooperation and heads toward a collapsing Denver, determined to protect them and confront the system that has controlled their lives.
No comments yet. Vote, then say why.