Wes Ball

Wes Ball (born October 28, 1980) is an American film director, producer, and visual effects artist. He directed the Maze Runner trilogy (2014–2018), based on the series of novels by James Dashner, as well as Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth film in the Planet of the Apes reboot series.

Education Ball attended Crescent City High School and graduated in 1999. He graduated from the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2002. In 2003, he won a Student Academy Award for his short, animated film A Work in Progress.

Career Ball got his start as a Hollywood filmmaker with an animated short titled Ruin, which executives at 20th Century Fox saw and offered him the job to direct the adaptation to The Maze Runner. The Maze Runner would be Ball's first feature film. Made on a budget of $34 million, the film pulled in $348 million in box office receipts. Not long after the success of the film, Ball signed a first look deal with 20th Century Fox under his OddBall Entertainment banner.

Ball is attached to direct a film adaptation of Fall of Gods, a crowdfunded illustrated novel from Denmark-based Mood Studios.

In 2017, Ball was hired to direct a live-action/VFX-hybrid adaptation of Mouse Guard, at 20th Century Fox with a script by Gary Whitta and T. S. Nowlin, while Matt Reeves, Ross Richie and Stephen Christy served as producers. Production was expected to begin in May 2019, but following the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Fox earlier that year, the project was pulled from production two weeks before filming began.

In December 2019, Disney and Fox hired Ball to write and direct a new Planet of the Apes film, titled Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. More recently, his production company OddBall Entertainment moved to Paramount Pictures.

In May 2021, Ball was set to direct The Time Runner, a feature adaptation of the novella of the same name by Michael Sherman. In March 2022, Ball was set to produce a film based on a yet unspecified H. G. Wells book.

In November 2023, it was announced that Ball will direct a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda for Nintendo and Sony Pictures, with Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad producing.

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer2002 Jacob: The Movie A Work in Progress 2011 Ruin

Feature film

Year Title Director Producer Notes 2014 The Maze Runner 2015 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials 2018 Maze Runner: The Death Cure 2024 Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 2027 The Legend of Zelda Post-production

Other credits Year Title Role Notes 2005 Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D Pre-visualization artist Documentary short 2007 Pirate Master Graphics artist 1 episode 2008 Medicine for Melancholy Special thanks 2011 Beginners Visual effects artist