Young-adult adaptation The Maze Runner outpaced the competition at the box-office this weekend to record one of the biggest September openings ever. With $32.5 million , the movie is now sixth - just behind Rush Hour - in all-time best openers for the month and Fox will be hugely satisfied with those numbers.

The Maze RunnerDylan O'Brien in 'The Maze Runner'

The movie also opened overseas last weekend and so should be looking at a total haul of around $81.5 million so far - that's without the UK and China markets, where The Maze Runner is yet to open. The next instalment of the movie - The Mazer Runner 2: Scorch Trials, is ready to takes its bow on September 18, 2015. 

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"We took a shot and they said internally all along that we were trying to do something we've never done before," said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for Fox. "Our target audience is in school and weren't available for the matinees but they came out on Friday night and then to be up 19% on Saturday was phenomenal."

The Maze RunnerThe Maze Runner performed strongly at the box-office

Fox ran with an intelligent and clever viral marketing campaign for the movie and proved that September doesn't have to be a baron wasteland at the box-office.

Elsewhere, Liam Neeson's well-received thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones underperformed and took around $13 million for the three days. It's likely that Universal will make back their money on this one in Blu-Ray and DVD sales , though it's still a blow given Neeson's pulling power with Non-Stop and Taken. 

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Jason Bateman's comedy This Is Where I Leave You took around $11.7 million and mainly played to an older female crowd - according to Deadline - despite the fact that Warner Bros were pushing for a younger audience with the likes of Adam Driver in the cast. 

Watch the trailer for 'The Maze Runner':