Wes Ball (born October 28, 1980) is an American film director, visual effects artist and graphic artist. He is best known for directing the
''Maze Runner'' film trilogy, based on
James Dashner
James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer known for speculative fiction. Many of his books are primarily aimed at children or young adults. He is best known for ''The Maze Runner'' series and the young adult fantasy seri ...
's
series of novels of the same name. Ball's next film,
''Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'', is set to release in 2024 as the fourth installment in the
''Planet of the Apes'' reboot series.
Education
Ball attended
Crescent City High School
Crescent City Junior-Senior High School is a high school in Crescent City, Florida, Crescent City, Florida, United States for 7th grade, 7th to 12th graders. Its sports teams are known as "The Raiders". The school is operated by Putnam County Scho ...
and graduated in 1999. He graduated from the
Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts
The Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts (colloquially known as The Film School) is the film school of the Florida State University. About 215 students are enrolled in classes, including undergraduates and graduate students, in ...
with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts
A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases.
Background
The Bachelor ...
in 2002. In 2003, he won a
Student Academy Award
The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers.
Description
The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first ...
for his short animated film ''A Work in Progress''.
Career
Ball got his start as a Hollywood filmmaker with an animated short named ''Ruin'', which executives at
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
saw and offered him the job to direct the adaptation to ''
The Maze Runner
''The Maze Runner'' is a 2009 young adult dystopian science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner and the first book released in ''The Maze Runner'' series. The novel was published on October 6, 2009, by Delacorte Press, an ...
''. 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
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
'', at 20th Century Fox with a script by
Gary Whitta
Gary Leslie Whitta (born 21 July 1972) is an English screenwriter, author, game designer, and video game journalist. He was editor-in-chief of both the UK and US editions of ''PC Gamer'' magazine and contributor to gaming magazine ''ACE''.
Whit ...
and
T.S. Nowlin
Thomas Scott Nowlin is an American screenwriter. He is known for writing the screenplays such as ''Maze Runner'' film series, '' Pacific Rim: Uprising'' and ''The Adam Project''.
Early life and career
Nowlin went to Florida State University.
...
, while
Matt Reeves
Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came t ...
,
Ross Richie
Ross Richie (born May 22, 1970) is an American comic book publisher and the founder of Boom! Studios, film producer, television producer and comic book creator. Richie was a Keynote Speaker for the 2012 Harvey Awards and a judge for the "Spirit of ...
and
Stephen Christy served as producers. Production was expected to begin in May 2019, but the project was pulled from production two weeks before filming began.
In December 2019,
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
and Fox hired Ball to develop and direct a new film in the ''
Planet of the Apes
''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
'' reboot series, as
Matt Reeves
Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came t ...
, director of the previous two, was too busy with his film ''
The Batman
Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.
Batman or The Batman may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
Characters
* Batman (Terry McGinnis)
* Batman (Thomas Wayne)
* Batman (Earth-Two)
* Batma ...
'' to return. More recently, his production company OddBall Entertainment moved to
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
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