Summary

• Legend of Zelda movie director Wes Ball says, "Zelda is hugely important to me, up there with Star Wars."
• The pressure to get Legend of Zelda right is real, with a ionate fanbase eager for a cinematic treatment.
• Ball got a taste of how big expectations for a movie can be with his Maze Runner experience.

The Legend of Zelda movie director Wes Ball details the pressure of making the highly-anticipated Nintendo adaptation after Super Mario Bros.' $1.36B success. Launched in 1986 with the original 2D game, the Legend of Zelda series has gone on to become one of the most iconic of all Nintendo franchises. After decades of anticipation, the adventures of Link are finally getting a live-action adaptation, coming on the heels of 2024’s blockbuster animated Super Mario Bros. Movie.

His franchise-extending Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes film is currently rampaging through theaters, but Ball spoke recently about his other big project, discussing the pressure he feels to get the live-action Legend of Zelda movie right, given the original video games' ionate fanbase, and his own prior experience with the Maze Runner movies. Check out his remarks below (via Variety):

I can’t say a lot about it, but “Zelda” is hugely important to me. It’s up there with “Star Wars” for me in of what shaped me as a kid. Talking about adventure? That’s the thing. And you’re right, it’s like one of the last untapped properties that is dying for a cinematic treatment. But we’ll see what happens. The expectation game, I got a taste of that with the “Maze Runner” movies. It was a small fan base, but a very ionate one, and they let me know when I didn’t do it right for them.

And it leveled up to a different level on this one [Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes] where you understand people’s ion for those stories, the Caesar trilogy in particular. So I take it in and then I let it go, because obviously you can’t have that while you’re making a thousand decisions a day. You ingest it and hopefully you make good choices along the way in a string of thousands and thousands of choices that you make. And so I count myself as a gigantic fan, and I trust that in a way as we move forward, and hopefully it lines up with other people that want to see the same thing.

Ball’s Franchise Experience Makes Him A Good Choice For Legend Of Zelda

Ball received an early education when it comes to franchise films, tackling 2014’s modestly-budgeted YA novel adaptation The Maze Runner as his debut feature, and following that up with a pair of sequels in 2015’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and 2018’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure. Ball’s experience on those films was not altogether positive, however. Critics were largely unimpressed by his handling of the Maze Runner franchise, and audiences were underwhelmed as well, as evidenced by the series’ below average Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

After possibly coming up short in realizing the Maze Runner movies, it could be argued that Ball was a shaky choice for both Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and The Legend of Zelda. However, Apes has reversed the director’s negative RT trend, scoring at 81% fresh with critics and 82% with audiences. This comes as an encouraging sign as Ball prepares to tackle arguably his highest-pressure assignment yet on Zelda.

Ball’s remarks indicate that he has learned a lot about dealing with fan expectations after Maze Runner and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The director acknowledges his own fandom, and understands how much these movies mean to those who love the franchises in question. It seems he has a healthy attitude toward fan reaction, and won’t get overwhelmed by the pressure that comes with making something as highly-anticipated as a Legend of Zelda live-action movie.

Source: Variety