Box office: ‘Maze Runner’ launches to $1.1 million Thursday night

“The Maze Runner,” 20th Century Fox’s post-apocalyptic teen thriller, opened solidly on Thursday night as it looks to take the top box office spot in its first weekend.

Beginning at 2,200 U.S. locations at 10 p.m., the young adult novel adaptation scored $1.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates.

Analysts expect the film to gross about $30 million through Sunday as it attempts to join the “Twilight,” “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” franchises in the ranks of successful series about teens struggling in dark fictional worlds.

The studio has projected a more cautious opening of around $20 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Directed by Wes Ball, “Maze Runner” cost about $34 million to make and stars Dylan O’Brien of TV’s “Teen Wolf.” It has a 62% “fresh” rating on the movie review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, Liam Neeson’s latest turn as an action hero began with $428,000 from about 1,900 theaters. “A Walk Among the Tombstones” is expected to gross $15 million to $20 million through Sunday. Earlier this year, another Neeson-kicking-butt film, “Non-Stop,” opened with $30 million.

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