Wes Ball: ‘Legend of Zelda’ movie won’t be like ‘The Lord of the Rings’
When director Wes Ball announced his forthcoming Legend of Zelda movie adaptation, some fantasy fans suggested that we could encounter the next Lord of the Rings. Ball has now commented on such conjecture, asserting that his movie will differ from Peter Jackson’s lauded trilogy.
The Legend of Zelda is a classic Nintendo video game series but is now set to be adapted for the big screen in association with Sony Pictures. Since the franchise was partly inspired by the fantastical universe of JRR Tolkien’s books, it would be safe to assume the movies won’t be worlds apart.
However, speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a new interview, Ball revealed that, unlike The Lord of the Rings, Zelda will be more akin to Hayao Miyazaki’s work but in a live-action setting.
The director said his vision for the video game adaptation is “this awesome fantasy-adventure movie that isn’t like Lord of the Rings; it’s its own thing. I’ve always said I would love to see a live-action Miyazaki. That wonder and whimsy that he brings to things, I would love to see something like that.”
“It’s going to be awesome,” Ball continued. “My whole life has led up to this moment. I grew up on Zelda, and it is the most important property, I think, that’s untapped IP, if you will. So we very much are working hard to do something. We’re not just trying to do it because we can. We want to make something really special.”
Ball is best known for helming the three popular Maze Runner movies and is currently wrapping up work on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
“We’re working on the script, and whether it’s the next one or not, it’s hard to say exactly,” he continued, discussing progress on the Zelda movie. “But certainly the plan is, after Apes is done, to have a little bit of a rest for a moment, and then dive into [Zelda] and hopefully give fans what they’re hoping for, and also invite new people in.
“I think Nintendo’s desire is to introduce people to this world that’s been around for 40 years now,” he added.
Watch a brief recap of the Legend of Zelda storyline below.
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