Younger and Wiser: The Maze Runner Effect

The Maze that bridged the gap into a new age of sensibility for YA.

The “Divergent Series: Allegiant” may have been far from the first failure of a cinematic adaptation of Young Adult material but the film is unarguably one of if not the highest profile failure of its genre in the current age.

Irresponsibly bloating production budgets beyond the sustainable profit margin of the inaugural entry (i.e. the highest grossing one) for a series whose only supportive audience still healthily criticizes its source material set the stage for the failure of a film franchise that actually managed to take off beyond its first installment only to sputter out on an anticlimax thanks to the greedy decision to split the final book into two movies.

The resulting critical thrashing and box office flop that followed has not only left its studio licking its wounds but it even effectively killed the multi-pack movie concept by being a bomb while setting up a final payoff that will never come to fruition.

For all the insults both deserved and hyperbolic that can be thrown at “Twilight,” at least that franchise managed to actually finish its story.

The fall of the “Divergent Series” was a clear indication of shifting dynamics regarding the sustained popularity of Young Adult in mainstream visually driven media, representing the downfall of the mega franchise, especially when your product isn’t catching on with audiences outside of the built in cult following fandom, and possibly even a desire to move towards a production mold smaller in scale if not at least a bit more authentic.

Punctuating this is the success of a similar dystopian series winding down amidst the plans for “Divergent” being thrown into utter chaos.

Waking up in a glade with a group of amnesiac boys, newcomer Thomas works his way up the social ladder by becoming a “runner,” members of the group designated to navigate the ever shifting labyrinth loaded with deadly traps and mechanical predators in hopes of finding their way out and reconnecting with civilization.

Upon escaping the maze, the boys soon realize they were placed into it for testing purposes by the government as a means of monitoring and studying their mental and physical activity.

All of the children selected for these trials are done so for their genetic immunity to a zombie like plague that has spread across the planet due to radiation induced mutation referred to as “The Flare virus.” With the revelation that his friends and their suffering is carried out in the self righteous name of saving humanity, Thomas leads his friends on the run from the government organization WCKD figure out if their intentions are truly as noble as they claim, despite their heinous actions.

Although the “Maze Runner” series never managed to see the steady critical acclaim of “The Hunger Games” or “Harry Potter,” it still manage to stay afloat just long enough to see completion. It’s my theory that this success stems from 2 areas that producers of this genre should take note of.

Relative to the audience that it was produced for, the “Maze Runner” series is fairly grittier than most of its contemporaries in the YA field.

Death is far more explicit, graphic, and prevalent than in most high profile stories, not shying away from the fact that a group of teenagers attempting to survive a decaying apocalyptic world while trying to overthrow a corrupt and resourceful government would not look very pretty. The films are essentially a few shots and some language choices away from being R-rated thrillers.

While a certain level of glossy stylization found in films such as “The Divergent Series,” “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” and even areas of “The Hunger Games” series is a bit of a typical indicator of the escapist fiction that this source material typically aims to be, the levels of tension and explicit nature of the content adds a substantial layer of authenticity that sets it apart from other series and giving it more of an identity than its failed contemporaries.

The plots may be fairly thin but are focused, tense and atmospheric in ways that are atypical of a PG-13 genre aiming to simulate mature content in a softer context for a younger audience. The subsequent tale that plays out feels a bit more intimate and grounded than the usual attempts at sprawling epics for the genre, despite a noticeable deficiency in strong character dynamics.

“Maze Runner’s” ambitions may not have been particularly high but its earnest execution, as well as interestingly tapping into a more male oriented demographic of the genre not often put to the forefront, provide it with an identity that was just low key and unique enough to bolster it to the completion of its concise story. It represents a substantial receptiveness to more pulled back narratives for the genre and its success is indicative of a necessary change on the business level that the entertainment industry seems to be catching up with.

The final and most notable aspect of “Maze Runner” and its success is something that all producers can learn from, YA or otherwise. More specifically, the collective budget of the series is about 20% of its nearly $1 billion box office gross and sales revenue.

Even as the settings and nature of each individual installment change, “Maze Runner” manages to keep all of its production budgets under the $80 million mark. It did need a bloated budget and triple A names; simply effective thrills and a market supporting them.

While the series its self is low key as to not have clearly inspired change directly, it does provide a fascinating case study regarding the lessons that a genre has to learn, leading to subsequent failures that didn’t learn that lesson, as well as a shift to a more intimate and inexpensive format more attuned to its audience and storytelling style, such as television.