Box Office: Maze Runner is #1 with a $32.5 million opening: Fox planning 2015 sequel

It appears as if Guardians of the Galaxy won't be returning back to the top of the box office after Maze Runner became the latest movie to take the weekend honors. The movie opened at $32.5 million, and is looking to keep this position way into next week.

The Maze Runner is just another Young Adult apocalyptic movie, so it is not surprising to see this film gaining success. These types of movies have become a popular medium since The Hunger Games, and we expect quite a few more in the coming years, especially after the end of Katniss's running success.

Obviously, with the success of The Maze Runner, 20^th Century Fox is surely looking into creating a follow-up. From what we understand, Fox is aiming for a 2015 release of the sequel. The first hurdle which is the most difficult one, has been passed, and now it is time to turn The Maze Runner into a successful franchise.

"The YA audience is so fickle. You have to cross your fingers and hope the first installment does well. And it did, the gamble paid off," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior Rentrak analyst. "So it's money in the bank and in the future."

The Maze Runner is a film that is based on the popular novel of the same name. The leading man here is actually Dylan O'Brien, one of the main actors in the Teen Wolf TV series on MTV. The film is all about a group of young people who are tasked with running through a maze and getting back before the door is closed. Apparently, if they reach back in time, they are required to run through every day after.

Audience gave the movie an 81 percent rating on RottenTomatoes, but critics were not so pleased with what they have seen. The current ratings by critics on the popular website, is 63 percent, enough for a sequel no doubt. But chances are, the planned sequel is likely about the $81.5 million The Maze Runner made worldwide, that alone should do it.

For those who are wondering,The Maze Runner wasn't an expensive film to make. It only cost 20^th Century Fox $34 million, so already the studio is making a sizeable profit on a potential franchise that could turn out to be another Hunger Games.