The January blahs continued this weekend, with only one major movie headed into wide release. And it was the final chapter in a franchise that audiences seemed to have abandoned long ago.

“The Maze Runner: The Death Cure” knocked off reigning champ “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” with $23.5 million. It’s a weak showing in the last installment in the YA series. The original “The Maze Runner” opened with $32 million, the followup “The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” launched with $30 million, but it’s clear that Fox could never ramp up this series to a wider audience.

Continue reading ‘The Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Clings To Life [Box Office] at The Playlist.

You’d be forgiven if you have forgotten about “The Maze Runner” franchise. You’re not alone. In the general scheme of YA adaptations, ranging from genuinely good (“Harry Potter,” “The Hunger Games”) to the stupendously bad (“Twilight,” “Divergent“), James Dashner‘s post-apocalyptic action-thriller book series has inspired some fairly average film adaptations.

Continue reading ‘The Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Exits The Franchise The Same Way It Arrived [Review] at The Playlist.

If your resolution for 2018 was to go outside more, maybe read the book that’s gathered dust on your nightstand, or pick up a hobby that doesn’t involve going to the movies, you’re in luck because unless you’re playing catch up, we’ve reached our yearly, momentary dry spell. While there are a few weeks in February that already look like they’ll be offering exclusively garbage, at least it will also have “Black Panther” and “Annihilation” to hold the tides.

Continue reading 10 Films To See In January at The Playlist.

The final chapter in “The Maze Runner” trilogy is here and….does anybody care? Delayed due to a near fatal on-set accident involving the film’s star Dylan O’Brien, “The Maze Runner: The Death  Cure” now arrives in cinemas in the usually dry month of January. Granted, the series has managed to find an audience, but are they still invested?

Co-starring Rosa Salazar, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Barry Pepper, I can honestly tell you I don’t know very much about this franchise.

Continue reading ‘The Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Trailer: Face The Final Deadly Labyrinth at The Playlist.

Having suffered a major delay in filming after an on-set accident involving leading man Dylan O’Brien, the fate of the third in “The Maze Runner” trilogy was left in limbo. However, the star regained health and the cast and crew returned to set to finish off the remainder of the film.

The first in the franchise, “The Maze Runner,” was met with a somewhat muted appraisal, coming too soon off the heels of every other YA adaptation to not be met with some fatigue.

Continue reading ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Trailer: The Trilogy Comes To A Close at The Playlist.

In a shocking revelation Thursday, news broke that earlier this summer Selena Gomez underwent a kidney transplant due to her continuing battle against Lupus. Somehow, this major news about one of the world’s biggest pop stars was kept incredibly quiet not only in the mainstream media, but social media where almost everything is posted by someone, somewhere. It was sort of a strange coincidence this was revealed considering I was prepping a podcast episode I recorded with Dylan O’Brien last month in conjunction with his new movie “American Assassin.” A conversation that described how truly taxing and traumatic his accident was on the set of “The Maze Runner: The Death Cure” in March, 2016.

Continue reading Dylan O’Brien: “I Was Emotional Stepping On The Set” Of ‘American Assassin’ After Injury [Podcast] at The Playlist.

Guys, why just not deliver all these release dates at once? 20th Century Fox has been a leaky faucet this weekend with its announcements. The first drip came Saturday morning, revealing the released dates for four “Avatar” films going through 2020-2025 (ha, like we’ll be alive by then). In the afternoon, Fox then unveiled details on three more “X-Men” films all arriving in 2018. Now, several additional films have been dated or shifted around.

Continue reading New Release Dates: Jennifer Lawrence’s ‘Red Sparrow’ & Films By Steven Spielberg, Steve McQueen & More at The Playlist.