EXCLUSIVE: DreamWorks is firming up a January production start for Glimmer, and a big reason for that is so that it will allow some scheduling room for Dylan O’Brien to play the lead. O’Brien is busy starring in Maze Runner for Fox, but he’s in talks for the lead, I hear. He’s repped by WME. He’s also in the TV series Teen Wolf, and the schedule was moved so he could complete the season of that show before going off to do feature work. Ringan Ledwidge directs the sci-fi thriller about a group of teenagers who discover a portal to the past. When one of them changes history, the effects start to snowball with tragic consequences. Josh Schwartz and Carter Blanchard wrote the script. Madhouse’s Adam Kolbrenner and Ryan Cunningham produce with Mark Sourian.

Source: deadline.com

The massive walls seem simultaneously industrial and ancient. They have the scale of natural rock formations, but there is no such thing as straight lines like these in the wild.

From the creeping vines and empty corridors, the walls also seem to have been totally abandoned … except for a group of young boys who live in the grassy center of this intimidating structure.

As you can tell from the tiny figures in this first concept image from the upcoming film The Maze Runner, not all of the boys are eager to find out what lies beyond the barrier.

Filming gets underway Monday for 20th Century Fox’s big-screen adaptation of James Dashner‘s best-selling 2009 young-adult novel, a mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games and Lost.

The illustration above is something first-time feature director Wes Ball created himself for inspiration. “It was for me, really. I like writing images,” says Ball, who previously worked as a special effects designer. “I started daydreaming about what it’s like to be at those doors and looking up at those walls.”

As cameras begin to roll on the film, which will open Feb. 14, 2014, he offered it up to Entertainment Weekly as a teaser for readers who have long imagined the novel’s menacing labyrinth.

The story begins with the lead character, Thomas (played by Teen Wolf‘s Dylan O’Brien), awakening inside a rusting, rumbling industrial elevator, which ascends from some unfathomable depth — into a peaceful meadow. He has no idea who he is or where he comes from. “The doors open and deposit him in this rustic, idyllic place surrounded by walls on all sides,” says Ball.

Thomas also finds himself surrounded by a ragtag group of other boys his age. “He is just one of many boys who have come up once a month in the last three years,” Ball says. They also have no idea who they are or how they got there, but they’ve pieced together a few things about the creepy walls that surround them.

Each morning, the barriers slide open. There is no other way out of the glade. “They have been trying to figure out how the hell to get out of this place and deal with the maze beyond the walls,” Ball says. “The doors open in the morning and the boys have to get back before they close because nobody survives a night in the maze.”

There’s something out there that preys on the ones who stay out too long. The kids call the creatures Grievers, though none has ever actually seen one (and lived.)

Most of the kids are content to stay within the confines — and relative safety — of the glade, even if it means never knowing why they’re there, or if anything lies beyond. Something must be, right? Something built all this and put them there. Only the bravest of the boys are willing to venture out to look for escape.

A moment like that is what Ball hints at amid the tiny figures in this concept drawing. “Thomas is the boy who takes that step forward when everybody else takes a step back,” he says.

Another challenge: the maze changes every day. Despite its imposing size, the walls somehow shift in the night, and so those who run out to map it tend to find their efforts useless the next day.

What makes Thomas different than the others?

“He’s curious,” Ball says. “That’s partly perceived as a threat, but it actually may be the thing that gets him out.”

Source: EW.com

24. Lots of mystery.

It seems like Stiles in particular is going to be pulling some extra weight. It’s been mentioned that he’s going to be a pseudo-detective in season 3, and that he may even be working more closely with his father this year. His room is set up with boards full of clues and a web of information connected every which way. Episodes 2 and 3 in particular will send him into his major arc this year.

Speaking of Stiles and his father, we’ve also heard that we’ll be getting more father-son moment this season. Sheriff Stilinski is certainly a fan-favorite character. He’s a great dad, a good officer, and just an all around funny guy. With no one else but each other.

23. Stiles spending more time with his dad.

it’s going to be nice seeing him and Stiles bonding.

But will that bonding include being let in on the hairy elephant in the room with the big teeth and pointy claws? Who knows. Many fans hope Papa Stilinski will be trusted with that information soon, but that also invariably puts him in more danger. And no one wants to see him killed off, leaving Stiles completely parentless.

21. Stiles may find love.

And it’s about time, right? Right. But…he may be finding love in all the wrong places. No one ever said the writers didn’t like to torture us.

Stiles will, in fact, be getting closer to some girls other than Lydia this season. But, and here we quote Jeff Davis, “While other teenagers just discover the pain of heartache, Scott and Stiles discover dead bodies.” Of course they do. But besides that, we’re happy Stiles isn’t going to be the guy who is perpetually in love with just one girl. And while we don’t think he’ll ever truly get over Lydia, we do like the idea of him trying.

9. Dylan O’Brien, co-writer.

Okay, well, technically he just wrote one scene, but we can dream, right?

In all seriousness, Dylan O’Brien writing a scene for Teen Wolf is like a stranger walking up to you and handing you a puppy for free. They didn’t have to do it, but now that they have, there’s no way you’re giving it back. We’re sure that O’Brien’s comic genius is going to be infused into every line of that wonderful scene, and if fans were excited about more Scott and Stiles bromance, they’ll be even more rabid for it now that they know who penned one of those scenes. Because it’s about damn time.

7. Stiles and Lydia getting closer.

a lot are glad they’re going to become friends first this season. Lydia probably didn’t even know Stiles’ name at the beginning of season 1, and now they’ve been thrown together into the supernatural world. They’re sure to start bonding.

But don’t get your hopes up for some romance. Lydia is still in love with Jackson, even though he skipped town, and Stiles is determined to move on from Lydia in season 3. While that is a bit disappointing on both fronts, it’ll be nice to see them on the same level this year.

Source: hypable.com

Me and @dylanobrien in wrestling practice. #OutOfOurDepth #WeJustWannaHug twitter.com/PoulterWill/st…

— Will Poulter (@PoulterWill) May 4, 2013