On the eve of the U.S. release of the second instalment, The Maze Runner and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials director Wes Ball has confirmed that he’ll be returning to complete the trilogy with 2016’s concluding chapter The Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

“Ultimately our goal is to create an awesome three-movie trilogy,” Ball tells Variety. “Not many people have done that and now I have the opportunity to do that. I am directing the third film and we’ve already been busy preparing and working on the final conclusion of this saga. We are setting up a lot of things that aren’t necessarily apparent in the second movie, but it will pay off big time in the third movie. So that has been my approach and I’m glad that I can finish the series. I’m lucky and thankful that they asked me to direct all three films. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it or not, but honestly, it was the cast that I wanted to work with again. They are such great people.”

The Maze Runner: The Death Cure is set for release on January 27th 2017 in the UK and February 17th 2017 in the States.