Director Wes Ball Envisions His Zelda Movie as “Live-Action Miyazaki”

While there’s still a long way to go before the live-action Zelda film makes its big-screen debut, director Wes Ball is already sharing the direction he hopes to go in with the project. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ball discussed receiving the amazing opportunity to produce an adaptation of the Zelda franchise and his vision for the project. According to him, his goal will not just be to implement his passion for the series, but to also incorporate his love for the work of renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.

Ball described his vision for the film as less like something you would see in The Lord of the Rings, and more like what you would see from the co-founder of Studio Ghibli:

“…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. 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.”

It is a bit ironic that Ball comes out with this Miyazaki statement just a couple of weeks after the release of RwanLink’s spectacular Ocarina of Time and Studio Ghibli crossover project. Great minds think alike, I suppose.

When Ball was initially announced as the director of the Zelda film last month, fans were quick to point out that 13 years ago he brought up his interest in directing an adaptation of the series on Twitter. The then-recent release of the film Avatar sparked the following tweet that has, in light of last month’s news, surfaced once again:

Ball was asked about this tweet, claiming he forgot he even posted that up on Twitter. He did clarify to the interviewer what he meant with that post all those years ago:

“You saw that tweet? I had forgotten I’d even done it. Someone dug it up and they put it out there. I was like, oh yeah, cool, that makes sense. James Cameron’s one of the guys I look up to in terms of movies. He’s able to do big, giant spectacle, but he’s still able to ground his stories in a way that is very relatable to broad audiences. Avatar inspired me to ultimately make my little short ‘Ruin’ that got me on to the Fox people, and they gave me the Maze Runner movies. From there it went to Planet of the Apes and ultimately to Zelda.”

Ball also told Entertainment Weekly that he hopes production on the Zelda movie will begin once he’s done wrapping up post-production on his current film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. He did confirm though that work has already begun on the script, which will be penned by screenwriter Derek Connolly (Jurassic World).

Unfortunately, Ball can’t guarantee that Zelda will be his next project:

“We’re working on the script, and whether it’s the next one or not, it’s hard to say exactly,” he explains. “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.”

After reading this interview, it’s nice to hear how passionate Wes Ball is for this Zelda film. He has the right mindset for a film based on this long-storied franchise, so the only issue now is in the execution.

What do you think of this news? Would you like to see the Zelda film go in the direction of a live-action Hayao Miyazaki movie? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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