The sci-fi action film The Maze Runner sprinted into first place at the North American box office last weekend, earning $32.5 million on its debut, industry figures show.

The Fox production, based on James Dashner's eponymous best-selling 2007 young adult novel, is the latest studio offering depicting teenagers struggling for survival in a dystopian future society.

Like the blockbuster Hunger Games and Divergent series films, The Maze Runner, which stars Dylan O'Brien as a teenager trying to escape from a complex labyrinth, is based on a trilogy.

A 2015 date has already been set for a second film in the series following the movie's successful opening weekend, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In second place was another new release, the Liam Neeson crime drama A Walk Among the Tombstones, which took in $12.8 million, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The movie, based on American crime writer Lawrence Block's book of the same name, features Taken star Neeson as a former New York detective who is hired by a drug dealer to track down his wife's murderer.

Another debut movie adapted from a book was in third, the comedy-drama This Is Where I Leave You, with $11.6 million.

The film, based on Jonathan Tropper's 2009 book and starring a cast that includes Jason Bateman and Tina Fey, tells the story of four siblings who reunite at their childhood home after the death of their father.

In fourth place was No Good Deed, the thriller starring Idris Elba about a devoted wife and mother of two who innocently helps out a charming but dangerous escaped convict with devastating consequences.

The film, which has been hit with a slew of negative reviews, earned $9.8 million in its second week on release.