This weekend yet another young-adult novel adaptation hits theaters. The Maze Runner, based on a best-selling trilogy, is expected to top the box office with $33 million, according to Exhibitor Relations. That would give it the biggest opening of any movie since August 8th when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brought in $65 million opening weekend. According to movie ticket sale website Fandango, The Maze Runner is the biggest seller accounting for more than 50% of early tickets sales.
But to put that number into perspective, $33 million isn't a fantastic opening weekend, especially for a movie that has franchise potential. Divergent earned $54 million opening weekend. The first Hunger Games movie earned $152 million.
The Maze Runner may go on to make a decent profit for
In the post-Harry Potter world, young adult seemed like the best place (outside of the comic book racks) to find those kind of new franchises. There are plenty of series that come to studios with built-in audiences. Young readers devour books like The Maze Runner and Beautiful Creatures.
But that doesn't mean they're slam-dunks. Over the past few years we've seen plenty of YA adaptations that have failed to become the next Hunger Games or Harry Potter. Beautiful Creatures grossed a total $60 million at the global box office. The Mortal Instruments earned $90 million and Ender's Game, which cost an estimated $110 million to make, brought in only $125 million.
Divergent is the only recent film to earn its franchise stripes. The first movie brought in $286 million at the global box office and three more movies are in the pipeline. But even Divergent isn't rising to the level of a giant YA phenomenon. The first Hunger Games movie ended up earning $691 million at the global box office.
Looking at future releases of what Box Office Mojo qualifies as young-adult adaptations, the slate is thinning. While there are Hunger Games and Divergent sequels hitting theaters in the next two years, there aren't many attempts to jump start any new franchises. Plenty of YA books have been optioned (which means a studio has the right to make a movie of a given novel) but few are actually in production.
The exception is Goosebumps which hits theaters next summer. Starring Jack Black, the film is a sort of meta-take on the line of kids books with Black playing author R.L. Stine whose demons are on the loose in a small town. But the
Hollywood is always chasing trends and it may be that YA, as a franchise, is just getting played out. A movie like The Maze Runner just feel like the same old thing (if you haven't read the book), especially hitting theaters on the heels of yet another dystopic-future film, The Giver. Despite legions of loving fans, that film has earned just $52 million at the global box office. With a $25 million budget, it still may turn a profit but it's unlikely to lead to sequels.
If might be time to treat YA adaptations not as potential franchises but as one-off films with low budgets that don't have to do blockbuster business. The Fault In Our Stars cost just $12 million to make and has earned $300 million at the global box office. Spoiler alert, don't expect a sequel. If I Stay, another film that deals with teens and death, has earned $60 million on a tiny $11 million budget.
Although studios crave franchises, a smaller movie made for the right budget can still turn a nice profit and there's nothing wrong with that.
