All 3 ‘Escape Room’ Movies in Order
The Escape Room movies are films about a group of strangers unknowingly becoming players working together to get out of a series of dangerous and elaborate puzzle rooms. Anyone who cannot get out of the rooms will die. The sole player that is lucky to survive the rooms to the end is the winner. Puzzles and death traps galore.
These series of psychological thrillers are heavily inspired by real-life popular escape room games, with the twist of the premise, being that the players are in life-and-death scenarios instead of just for the fun of figuring out how to get out of the rooms. If you are a big fan of the movies like The Cube, the Saw films, or the popular Netflix series, Squid Game, this is the movie series for you.
How Many Escape Room Movies Are Out There?
Theatrically, there are the two films in the series: Escape Room, released in 2019, and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions released in 2021. Although there is an extended cut of Escape Room: Tournament of Champions released in the same year of 2021, featuring new footage and an entirely new plot line. If we are being technical, there are three films overall.
Escape Room Movies in Order
Here are the Escape Room movies in order of release:
- Escape Room (2019)
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Extended Cut (2021)
The list is still pretty short, but we suspect it will only grow in the following years! Although Escape Room 3 has yet to be confirmed, there are always rumors of the series continuing in some way. With fan support, it may come sooner or later.
What Is the Best Way to Watch the Escape Room Movies?
The first Escape Room movie should strictly be watched first given that it is the first by chronology, and the second movie is heavily hyped as a continuation through this movie. How the second movie, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions should be watched is optional. Given that the theatrical version and the extended cut are variations of the same movie going on different story paths.
Escape Room Movies In Order (Release Date)
Escape Room (2019)
The story begins with six people of varying places and backgrounds receiving an elaborate puzzle box. Once they have solved the puzzle, a note comes, out telling them that they are invited to an Escape Room with a $10,000 prize. Once our cast of characters meets up, they find that the escape room is actually an elaborate death trap. In order to survive, they must solve the puzzles to get out of the room and into the next. The winner is the one that survives all of the rooms.
The star of the show are the elaborate sets themselves. From the outside looking in, the rooms look amazingly intricate. The death traps are creative and brutal. You and your family will be screaming at the screen, trying to solve the clues as you imagine you are one of the players before death catches up.
Actress, Taylor Russell as Zoey is a worthy protagonist. Her meek presence makes her easy to be underestimated by the other players but makes her an underdog to root for. You want to be like her who consistently thinks outside the box, and try to believe you’ll think the same way if trapped in a similar scenario.
The movie has garnered mixed reviews from critics with a decent box office return. Yet it has gained its niche audience that makes a sequel possible.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Theatrical Cut (2021)
The premise of the movie is that the survivors of the original movie and the survivors in different other escape rooms not seen on-screen are now gathered to play again. The event is called, “The Tournament of Champions” and the one that survives by the end will be considered the best among the survivors.
With this sequel, the creative set of rooms is back, now more elaborate and deadlier than ever. Some of them are even replicas of entire streets. The players need to speed through per room faster than ever, giving the film a faster and tenser pace.
This version of the story has a more open-ended feel. Just like the first movie, there are many clues hinting at the next movie in the series.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Extended Cut (2021)
The extended cut is basically the same premise as the theatrical cut, but with new footage and plotlines that make it a different movie altogether, even if the two movies still share more than half of the same scenes.
The major difference is the addition of Isabelle Fuhrman and James Frain as new characters: Clair and Henry, respectively. Their involvement reveals more backstory about the mysterious and enigmatic villains in charge of the escape room games absent from the theatrical version.
The unfortunate casualty of this version is that Deborah Ann Woll’s character Amanda needed to be cut despite her status as a semi-fan favorite.
Overall, both versions received equally mixed reviews with the biggest criticism being that it has not gone with the fool potential of its premise. Again, still gaining a niche audience. It would be entirely up to you, which version (theatrical, or extended) you would prefer, given that they are in the same league of quality.
Will There Be More Escape Room Movies?
As of now, Escape Room 3 has yet to be confirmed. The second movie Escape Room: Tournament of Champions underperformed at the box office so a sequel is unlikely to happen. Although, due to the fact that the franchise has its fans, we may never know. Never say never, right?
Where to Watch the Escape Room Movies?
The original Escape Room, and the extended cut of Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, can be streamed on Netflix. While the original theatrical version of Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, can be streamed on Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+.
