The adult fiction adaptation beat two other debuts into second and third spot – Liam Neeson’s A Walk Among the Tombstones took $13.1 million at No 2.
This Is Where I Leave You entered at number three with $11.9 million.
The Maze Runner had a relatively low budget of $34 million.
Based on the book by James Dashner, the movie tells the story of a group of teenage boys mysteriously locked inside a giant maze.
“Our little $34 million-budgeted film is pretty darn strong,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox.
“No-one had launched a young adult title in September. We took a risk, but it paid off.”
Fox also had success recently with another young adult film, The Fault in Our Stars, which took $125 million and only cost $12 million to make.
A Maze Runner sequel entitled The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is set to open in September 2015.
Last week’s number one, The Good Deed, starring Idris Elba, dropped to number 4.
North American box office Top five:
Source: Rentrak
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