With properties like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars franchise, it's arguably rare for a major blockbuster series to come to an end these days. However, that's what's happening with the release of Maze Runner: The Death Cure. CinemaBlend recently sat down with the cast of the Maze Runner threequel to ask why the franchise should end on its third installment, and Kaya Scodelario explained that it all stemmed from director Wes Ball's desire to do something old-school and keep the series from overstaying its welcome. As the actress put it:
Wes was really passionate about it only being three, and I think there's something kind of old-school about that that I liked. Like the throwback to how franchises were, and I think it's important to end it at some point, says the person who was in Pirates of the Caribbean 17. It's good to end it at three.
So it sounds like it was always Wes Ball's intention to tell a story based on three movies, and then end the franchise after the third film. This explanation makes sense because the Maze Runner franchise is based on a trilogy of novels (not counting the prequels), but it also helps Maze Runner: The Death Cure by ensuring that the franchise won't stick around too long and become a parody of itself.
Following Kaya Scodelario's remarks (and her quick joke about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), Dylan O'Brien continued the explanation and remarked on how the Maze Runner franchise fits neatly into three-act story structure by ending on The Death Cure. Per O'Brien:
It's throwback in the sense that, with three films too it's essentially three acts of one cohesive story. It's the beginning a middle and end and that's the way he wanted it and I think that's the best way to tell the story. Instead of lengthening it and drawing it out.
If you want to hear everything that the cast of Maze Runner: The Death Cure had to say about the franchise coming to an end, check out a clip from CinemaBlend's interview with them, below!
Of course, with the Maze Runner franchise coming to an end, this also opens up the schedule for the cast of The Death Cure to go on to other franchises. Despite her jokes, it's entirely plausible that Kaya Scodelario could return for a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and Rosa Salazar is already lining up for the titular role in Alita: Battle Angel. Moreover, elsewhere in our interview, Dylan O'Brien expressed interest in portraying Dick Grayson in the DCEU for the upcoming Nightwing movie -- once he learned who Nightwing was, that is. This franchise may have come to an end, but it looks like that has created numerous opportunities for the Maze Runner actors to continue acting in big-budget action adventures.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure is now in theaters. Make sure to check out the final installment in the Maze Runner franchise, and look through our movie premiere guide to see what other films (franchise or otherwise) are debuting this year!
