Escape Room 3 Could Be Canceled – Here’s Why Fans Should Worry

Fans desperately want an Escape Room 3. But will it happen?

The Puzzle Horror Franchise

The first film in the Escape Room series (marketed as a psychological horror film based around puzzles) featured Taylor Russell as Zoey Davis, a young college student. As the lead character in the movie, she received a mysterious box inviting her and five other individuals (Ben Miller, Amanda Harper, Mike Nolan, Danny Khan and Jason Walker) to attend an escape room event. Upon arriving, they are locked in the room and forced by the Gamemaster to solve a series of puzzles and complete room after room to survive.

While fans were quickly drawn to the film’s unique premise, Escape Room was criticised for failing to reach its full potential, falling victim to the class horror tropes accompanying similar flicks. Still, it gained enough interest to spawn a sequel in 2021 called Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. 

Unfortunately, the follow-up film was poorly received and underperformed at the box office (only grossing a third of the first film’s revenue). Escape Room made $155.7 million, while Escape Room: Tournament of Champions only made $65.8 million. This is, however, a direct result of the film’s release amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for the story, Tournament of Champions raised numerous unanswered questions, which was a deliberate choice by director Adam Robitel. “The worst thing I think we could have done is, like, given everybody the answers,” he told TheWrap.

This move appears to be part of his strategy to set up a potential third instalment in the franchise. Sadly, for fans of the franchise, it seems like we might never see the third title released.

What Would The Plot of The Third Film Be?

To recap the previous two films, the first saw Zoey and Ben as the only survivors. At the end of the film, Zoey meets up with Ben and shares with him her discoveries about who was behind the games. Upon leaving the building, she had the police scout the building they were in, only to find it completely abandoned. As good as a gaslighting plot as this was on the part of the evil corporation, Zoey figured that they must have owned the building and somehow was able to track it back to Minos Corporation. The film then concludes by showing the company setting up another game to trap Zoey when she plans to head to their base in New York.

The start of the second film shows the duo driving to their destination instead of flying, with Zoey narrowly missing Minos’ trap. The two are baited into an underground railway, where the first puzzle of the game commences. It is here where they meet survivors from previous games and discover that they all have something in common. As the games continue, Zoey reveals Minos Corporations’ plans when she discovers that Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll) survived the games from the first film and is now working as a game designer (in order to keep her daughter, Sonya, safe). Together, they fight to reveal the company’s secrets to the public. Just as we think things are safe, the sequel ends similarly to the first film: setting up a plane-based escape room.

What’s even more interesting is that an extended cut of the sequel doesn’t feature Amanda at all. Instead, it’s revealed that the gamemaster’s daughter, Claire (played by Orphan‘s Isabelle Fuhrman), was behind the new rooms. It’s a completely different third act. Will a 3rd film follow the theatrical ending or the extended cut’s ending? It will be interesting to see.

Robitel also teased the possibility that Deborah Ann Woll’s character is the one behind all the games. “I’d love to open a movie with Deborah Ann Woll smoking a cigarette, like, as the plane crashes behind her,” he teased.

All of this means that Escape Room 3 could, in fact, go in many different directions.

Has an Escape Room 3 Film Been Confirmed?

Despite the last film underperforming at the box office, there is still hope for a third instalment of this YA version of Saw. With that being said, there is yet to be any confirmation on whether another movie will be happening in the future. 

Talking to Nightmarish Conjurings, director Adam Robitel revealed that he believed a third film might be greenlit if there was a desire for it. “We’ll see! I always say, let’s see if there’s a desire for it. It all comes down to bucks as they say.”

Sadly, since then, there has been no update on the release of Escape Room 3. Sony has yet to confirm a release date or even announce a sequel.

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Do you want to see Escape Room 3?