As the early days of 2026 approach, a wave of major titles — from cult favorites to blockbuster franchises — is preparing to exit Netflix. Among the most painful losses is one of the defining young adult sci-fi trilogies of the 2010s: The Maze Runner. All three films — The Maze Runner, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure — will leave Netflix on January 9, 2026. That gives subscribers just over a week to revisit (or finally binge) a trilogy that helped shape a decade of dystopian sci-fi storytelling.
Directed by Wes Ball and adapted from James Dashner’s bestselling novels, The Maze Runner franchise carved out its own lane during the YA boom. While other series leaned heavily into romance or mythology overload, these films doubled down on momentum, mystery, and survival-first storytelling. The numbers back it up. The first film, released in September 2014, remains the highest-grossing entry, earning over $348 million worldwide. The Scorch Trials followed in 2015 with $312 million, while the final chapter, The Death Cure, closed out the trilogy in 2018 with $288 million globally. Even at its “lowest,” the franchise was still pulling blockbuster-level numbers. Collider’s review hailed the film, noting:
“I haven’t read any of the Maze Runner books, but I could feel the young adult vibe running through the story in the best possible sense. After the film, I briefly spoke with a fellow audience member who had read the books, and it sounds like screenwriters Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers, and T.S. Nowlin stripped the story down to the essentials, which you can feel in the film’s quick pacing. Ball has helped build a firm foundation for the series. The movie doesn’t need to be a Hunger Games imitator. The Maze Runner has found its own way through.”
Who Stars in ‘The Maze Runner’?
At its core, The Maze Runner tells a deceptively simple story: A group of teenagers wakes up trapped inside a massive, ever-shifting maze with no memory of how they got there. One of the franchise’s biggest strengths is its cast, many of whom went on to much bigger things. Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario and Thomas Brodie-Sangster are the de facto leads, while the supporting cast is impressive too: Ki Hong Lee as Minho, Dexter Darden, Patricia Clarkson as WCKD’s icy figurehead Ava Paige, and later additions like Giancarlo Esposito, Rosa Salazar, Aidan Gillen, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jacob Lofland, Will Poulter, and Walton Goggins made it feel even bigger.
The Maze Runner trilogy leaves Netflix next month.