A movie adaptation of The Scorch Trials was released on September 18, 2015. It was directed by Wes Ball and utilized a budget of $61 million. The movie starred Dylan O'Brien (Thomas), Ki-Hong Lee (Minho), Kaya Scodelario (Teresa), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Newt), Giancarlo Esposito (Jorge), and Rosa Salazar (Brenda). The movie was rather different from the book, with significant plot differences designed to clear up story-based confusions. It was a box office hit, and garnered over $310 million in box office revenues. However, it received a lukewarm critical reception, with the Rotten Tomatoes general summary review writing: "The Scorch Trials is an action-packed sequel at the cost of story, urgency, and mystery that the original offered."
Major plot differences include: no mention of the Flare having taken hold in the remaining Gladers; more of Teresa's presence in the plot (she even leaves with Janson and Chancellor Paige at the end of the film, a completely different event than those in the book); lack of the tunnel slicing mechanism or the bulb monsters at the Safe Haven site; and no mention of the Scorch Trials being "Phase Two" of the experiments. Chancellor Paige's presence is also a new addition.
In this film, Thomas and his friends are simply dropped off at the Scorch and make it through the landscape without the motivation of obtaining the cure, as was the case in the book.
