Dylan O'Brien's set injury has paused Maze Runner production

Fox has pushed back the release date of the third film in the Maze Runner trilogy as star Dylan O'Brien continues to recover from his injuries.

The 24-year-old was involved in a horrific accident on the set of The Maze Runner: The Death Cure in March when a stunt went wrong, causing the actor to be run over by a car.

Dylan, who plays Thomas, the lead character in the dystopian adventure franchise, was admitted to hospital with "severe injuries" in Vancouver, Canada near to where filming was taking place.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Dylan was in a harness on top of a moving vehicle when he was pulled off unexpectedly and hit by another vehicle.

His injuries were described in a report from the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia as including a "concussion, facial fracture and lacerations," according to THR.

Production on the film was shut down in an effort to give the actor time to recover and filming was expected to resume on May 15. However Fox has shut down production for the foreseeable future after it was revealed Dylan's injuries were more serious than first thought.

The film studio announced on Saturday that the movie, which originally had a release date of February, 2017 would now be released on January 12, 2018.

Director Wes Ball expressed his feelings of guilt in an emotional post on Twitter in the wake of the accident.

pic.twitter.com/Z0tTdB7yNp

— Wes Ball (@wesball) March 19, 2016

"Well, it's been a whirlwind of emotions these past few days," he wrote. "I've been overwhelmed with feelings of anger and sadness and guilt."

The first Maze Runner film, released in 2014, grossed more than $US348 million ($A484.51 million) worldwide, and its 2015 sequel The Scorch Trials took over $US312 million at the global box office.

- WENN