‘Maze Runner’ may outrace ‘Tombstones,’ ‘This Is Where I Leave You’

“The Maze Runner,” the latest young adult book adaptation to hit the big screen, is expected to speed past other newcomers at the box office this weekend.

The apocalyptic drama is expected to gross as much as $40 million in the United States and Canada in its opening weekend, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

Fox, the studio releasing the film, does not believe the film will open with more than $20 million. However, “The Maze Runner” should still end up ahead of the weekend’s two other new releases: the comedy-drama “This Is Where I Leave You” and the Liam Neeson thriller “A Walk Among the Tombstones.”

Based on the bestselling young adult thriller by James Dashner, “The Maze Runner” follows Thomas (“Teen Wolf” actor Dylan O’Brien), who is deposited into a community of young men in a post-apocalyptic world. After learning they are trapped in a maze, he joins fellow “runners” to try to escape.

The film, which was directed by Wes Ball and cost about $34 million to make, is likely to be a big hit among young adults, who have flocked to franchise favorites such as “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent.”

“Divergent” met expectations in its opening weekend, grossing $56 million. The first “Hunger Games” film opened at more than $152 million in March 2012, and the sequel, “Catching Fire,” opened in November 2013 to $158 million and went on to be the top film at the box office last year.

Illustrating the audience overlap, the official “Hunger Games” Twitter account has even exchanged some tweets with the “Maze Runner” account.

The “Hunger Games” tweeted Thursday: “Head to theaters this weekend to see the #Mockingjay Part 1 official trailer, playing before @MazeRunnerMovie!” It was retweeted 694 times and a favorite 946 times.

“The Maze Runner” also has the added advantage of male lead O’Brien, known for his role as the best friend to Scott McCall’s Tyler Posey in the “Teen Wolf” series on MTV. O’Brien, who has more than 2 million followers on Twitter, is considered one of Hollywood’s young heartthrobs.

So far, it has fared well with critics. As of Thursday, it had notched a positive 62% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Universal Pictures’ “A Walk Among the Tombstones” and Warner Bros.’ “This Is Where I Leave You” are expected to cater to older crowds.

The latest Neeson action film, which cost about $28 million to make, is expected to gross roughly $20 million in its opening weekend. The studio expects the Cross Creek Pictures film to gross in the mid to high teens.

In March, another Neeson action flick released by Universal, “Non-Stop,” grossed $30 million in its opening weekend. It went on to haul in $91.7 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. and analysts expect “This Is Where I Leave You” to gross $15 million to $16 million.

The character-based comedy-drama, which cost about $20 million to make, has a star-studded cast that includes Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda.

Based on the bestselling novel by Jonathan Tropper and directed by Shawn Levy, the film follows four siblings who reunite after their father dies.

The film returns to a genre that’s not done very often these days – the kind of family dramedy popularized in films such as “Terms of Endearment.”

As of Thursday, it had notched a 43% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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