It was revealed back in March that Dylan O’Brien, star of the Maze Runner franchise at Fox, suffered from stunt injury on the set of the series’ third installment, The Death Cure, temporarily halting production on the film. It has now been announced by the actor’s team and the studio that production on the film has been shut down for the time being as O’Brien’s injuries have proved to be much more severe than first reported and will need more time for recovery.
The injuries in question occurred on March 18 while O’Brien was harnessed to the top of a moving vehicle. He unexpectedly fell off and was subsequently hit by another vehicle. The bodily damages reported by WorkSafeBC now include “a concussion, facial fracture and lacerations.” Fox originally hoped for a temporary shut down that would see production resuming on May 9, about a week from now. According to O’Brien’s publicist, Jennifer Allen, however:
His injuries are very serious, and he needs more time to recover.
Although this halt may mean that the film will not make its intended February 17, 2017 release date, Fox is throwing their support behind his recovery and will restart production once he has been medically cleared and the rest of the large cast and crew can be reassembled. With a big budget film such as this, many factors, including but not limited to the star actor’s health will factor into a new start date.
The franchise’s director Wes Ball released a statement back in March at the time of the injury, saying:
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.
Fans of the franchise as well as the cast and crew will be pulling for O’Brien’s speedy recovery in these next few months. If and when O’Brien is able to return to filming The Death Cure, audiences will get to see him return to the role of Thomas as he searches for a cure to the deadly virus called The Flare. We will have more on the actor’s recovery and the film’s future as it is revealed.
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