Dylan O’Brien’s Injury Delays Sequel, ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’, Indefinitely


The injury suffered by Dylan O’Brien on March 18 was originally supposed to delay filming of the sequel, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, until May 9. If Fox, the production company, were able to stick to that schedule, filming for that sequel would be resuming in just over a week. Unfortunately, O’Brien’s injuries have proven to be more serious than anyone initially believed.

The injury report for O’Brien was cataloged by WorkSafeBC on March 30, 2016. The report does not name names and it is relatively vague in order to protect the privacy of the patient. However, it does explain each injury classification suffered by the Maze Runner actor and how the injury was obtained.

According to WorkSafeBC(ID: 2016167040020), O’Brien suffered an injury under three different classifications: concussion, facial fracture, and lacerations. It notes that each injury was sustained in the “Lower Mainland” and went on to explain how each injury occurred.

“A worker was leaving the filming area on a motorcycle after completing a stunt sequence. The motorcycle went into a slide while turning onto a side road. The worker struck his head on the pavement and temporarily lost consciousness.”

Originally, when the injury was reported by TMZ, the gossip site indicated that O’Brien had suffered an injury on set when he was run over by a car during a stunt. Maze Runner actors immediately urged fans not to listen to sites like TMZ, and to get their facts from legitimate news sources.

USA Today also reported that Kaya Scodelario tweeted to her fans that they should get “information from official sources like Fox and Dylan’s publicist. NOT TMZ.” However, at the time of this article we were unable to find the alleged tweet.

The day after Dylan O’Brien’s unfortunate injury, Wes Ball (the director working on the Maze Runner sequel) tweeted a handwritten apology to Dylan, his family, and fans of the Maze Runner series.

The note is a little difficult to read, but it was interpreted in a response from one of his followers.

“Well, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions these past few days. I’ve been overwhelmed with feelings of anger and sadness and guilt. But, ultimately I find myself left with just a deep love and respect for Dylan. He is one tough cookie. I’m sorry for the grief this accident has caused his friends and family as well as my wonderful cast and crew. It’s scary seeing your friend get hurt, but fortunately, Dylan is going to be just fine. After a few weeks of rest and recovery he’ll be back up and running to finish our adventure together. All the best. -Wes”

After learning that it would take O’Brien longer than a few weeks to recover from his significant, but non-life threatening, injuries, Fox opted to send the cast and crew of the Maze Runner sequel home. The postponement of principal photography is indefinite, but Fox and the author, James Dashner, have been very clear that the word “indefinite” does not mean “permanently.”

Vanity Fair reported that Fox released a statement indicating that they are fully intending to finish filming the sequel.

“The resumption of principal photography on Maze Runner: The Death Cure has been further delayed to allow Dylan O’Brien more time to fully recover from his injuries. We wish Dylan a speedy recovery and look forward to restarting production as soon as possible.”

Dashner attempted to lighten the mood by joking that the sequel might go on recording without Dylan O’Brien if Fox cast him instead.

Despite the obvious joking nature of the comment, Twitter users seemed to take it a little more to heart than it was meant. As a result, Dashner explained the joke in a following tweet.

There is no word yet on whether or not the Feb. 17, 2017 release date for the sequel will be kept.

[Photo by Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for Allied]

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