Maze Runner’s ‘big shot’ works
Actor Dylan O’Brien says scene filmed before he was seriously hurt is very special to him
LOS ANGELES — When Wes Ball restarted work on the third and final Maze Runner film, he gently broached a question with franchise star Dylan O’Brien.
The cast and crew of Maze Runner: The Death Cure had previously shot an ill-fated stunt featuring O’Brien on the third day of shooting in 2016. The actor suffered a head injury so severe that production shut down for months while he recovered.
But the director wanted to incorporate an earlier and dramatically successful take when Death Cure filming reconvened with the rejuvenated O’Brien in 2017.
“[Ball] wanted to run by me, or get my blessing, or see how I felt about him still having the shot in the film,” O’Brien, 26, recalls. “And it was funny. My response was actually was like: ‘I need you to, in a way. I would be more heartbroken than if it just went to waste.’ ”
The scene is featured in one of the Maze Runner trailers as O’Brien’s character, Thomas, emerges from the window of the moving car as it swiftly approaches the speeding train.
“It’s a real big shot, you see [O’Brien’s] face and the train as he climbs on. It’s the longest shot of the whole sequence,” Ball says. “We were only going 10 miles per hour, but with the computer graphics, it made it look like it was going 40.”
O’Brien, too, was impressed with the footage.
“It’s an amazing shot. It was the very dangerous thing we were attempting, and obviously it resulted in what it resulted in eventually,” he says. “But he did still use this take. And it’s a take that I am proud of.”
The original scene was shot at a Vancouver airport during the aborted Canadian shoot. With the second shoot taking place in sunny South Africa, the background had to be digitally altered to match the new arid location.
Ball wasn’t taking any chances after the accident. The remaining footage in the intense action sequence that opens the movie — including O’Brien and Campbell River native Barry Pepper’s rebellious characters battling security to free their comrade — were shot on a parked train. The swift movement was provided by the famed WETA special effects group.
The whole fast-paced rescue scene is impressive work that O’Brien believes stands up with any classic film action opening.
“My hope is, years from now, people will look back at movies and talk about that sequence from the third Maze Runner. It’s an amazingly designed sequence. I am really proud of it,” O’Brien says. “And I am so happy I was able to finish the scene.”
O’Brien saw the finished work at a private screening with his family and girlfriend, Britt Robertson, this month. He had butterflies — both nervousness and excitement.
“I’m sweating just now talking about it,” O’Brien says. “It was something I was very much anticipating. And it was something that meant a lot to me, very special.
“I was really emotional watching that scene, obviously. But I was able to settle into the movie seamlessly, just enjoy and be proud of what we did.”