The Maze Runner is a 2014 American dystopian science fiction action thriller movie directed by Wes Ball, in his directorial debut, based on James Dashner’s 2009 novel of the same name. The movie is the first installment in The Maze Runner movie series and was produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen and Lee Stollman with a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers and T.S. Nowlin. Take a look below for 30 more fun and interesting facts about The Maze Runner.

1. The movie stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Aml Ameen, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Will Poulter and Patricia Clarkson.

2. The story follows 16 year old Thomas, who awakens in a rusty elevator with no memory of who he is, only to learn that he’s been delivered to the middle of an intricate maze, along with a large number of other boys, who have been trying to find their way out of the ever-changing labyrinth; all while establishing a functioning society in what they call the Glade.

3. The movie topped the box office during its opening weekend with a $32.5 million debut, making it the seventh highest grossing debut in September.

4. The movie earned over $348 million worldwide at the box-office, against its budget of $34 million.

5. The production had to hire snake wranglers to make sure that the areas where they were filming were snake free. Before filming began, the wranglers found 25 venomous snakes. The biggest one they found was a 5 foot rattlesnake.

6. To gain the role of Chuck, actor Blake Cooper continuously campaigned for an audition via Twitter. He would send director Wes Ball tweet after tweet after tweet, stating that he was made for the role. Wes Ball eventually relented and told Cooper to send his audition to the casting director who stated that Cooper was the perfect Chuck.

7. Thomas Brodie-Sangster would put a rock in his show so he would remember to limp.

8. Of the largely British cast, only Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who plays Newt, got to keep his accent.

9. To prepare for shooting, director Wes Ball had the cast spend a night in the Glade set during boot camp.

10. In the book, Teresa and Thomas could community by speaking in each other’s mind.

11. Dylan O’Brien’s hairstyle almost cost him the role of Thomas, because director Wes Ball thought it was too “MTV.” Ball reconsidered when he was sent a photo of O’Brien without his hair gelled.

12. Dylan O’Brien had four days to read the book before filming.

13. Producer Wyck Godfrey had his 3 boys offer casting advice. He would show his kids the auditions and got their feedback. His kids have read all the books.

14. Wes Ball and Wyck Godfrey’s names are written on the Glade name wall.

15. W.C.K.D. is pronounced as “wicked,” because in the book the acronym was W.I.C.K.E.D.; standing for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department.

16. The cast spent the week before production participating in survival training in the Glade. They learned how to build tools and shelter out of the surrounding nature.

17. Kaya Scodelario’s favorite day on set was when she spent an entire shooting day on the top of a tree with O’Brien. She said that was when they really spent time together as actors and got to know each other better.

18. Dylan O’Brien’s character in Teen Wolf was unconscious for most of the episode “Lunar Eclipse” in order for him to finish filming The Maze Runner.

19. Dylan O’Brien’s favorite scene to shoot was the wrestling sequence with Will Poulter.

20. In the book, the walls of the maze were much, much taller, which is why the gladers weren’t able to climb them to the top. The maze is also contained within a dome. The sky and the weather are all artificial.

21. Thomas Brodie-Sangster auditioned for both Thomas and Newt. Will Poulter auditioned for Gally and Newt.

22. In the book, it states that it never rains in the Glade, but in the movie it does.

23. In the scene where Thomas first writes his name on the wall with the other names, there is the name “Alec,” which is a reference to the other maze runner series book “Kill Order,” where Alex is one of the main protagonists.

24. Director Wes Ball watched a lot of Terrence Malick for inspiration as he liked the idea of a mature, sophisticated look to the movie.

25. The ending of the first movie is actually the beginning of the second.

26. Wes Ball worked with a concept artist in Belgium to create the concept artwork for the movie. Wes has never met him or spoke to him aside from in emails and instant messages.

27. Dylan O’Bryan actually broke his cheekbone while filming The Maze Runner. It was the scene where he was running from his first griever and when he went to jump, he slipped.

28. Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s favorite scene to film was the scene where he and Dylan O’Brien are sitting by the log and talking about the maze, because he said that it wasn’t a big scene and that it was relaxed.

29. The production filmed over 18 acres of land on a local farm. The farm had 200 acres in total.

30. In the movie, the grievers have legs and run. In the book, they roll and have arms inside them that come out. Their arms can also have weapons such as knives on the end.