'Maze Runner' star Dylan O'Brien injured on set, production shut down

[March 19, 2016]   (Reuters) - "Maze Runner" star Dylan O'Brien was injured on the set of the latest movie in the young adult franchise, and production on the film has been shut down while he recovers, movie studio 20th Century Fox said on Friday.

O'Brien, 24, was taken to a hospital in Vancouver, Canada, for observation and treatment, Fox said in a statement.

Hollywood trade publication Variety and celebrity website TMZ said O'Brien was hit by a car and suffered multiple injuries on the Vancouver set of the upcoming "Maze Runner: The Death Cure."

Fox declined to comment on the severity of O'Brien's injuries or how they occurred.

"Production on the film will be shut down while he recovers. Our thoughts go out to Dylan for a full and speedy recovery," Fox said in its statement.

James Dashner, the author of the "Maze Runner" young adult novels, said Friday on Twitter that "Dylan was hurt, but that he is going to be okay. Not life threatening in any way." He added that production on the film was postponed but not canceled.

TMZ said O'Brien, who plays Thomas in the franchise, suffered multiple broken bones in the accident.

"Maze Runner: The Death Cure" is scheduled for release in February 2017 and is the third film in the successful movie franchise set in a dystopian world.

The first two movies, released in 2014 and 2015, made about $660 million at the global box office and established O'Brien as one of the hottest young movie stars.

O'Brien first found fame on YouTube some 10 years ago through posting his original videos. He later starred in the MTV series "Teen Wolf."

The original "Maze Runner" book was inspired by William Golding's influential 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies" about a group of young boys left to fend for themselves on an uninhabited island.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bernard Orr and Sandra Maler)

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