Wes Ball

Producer, Writer, Director

Birthdate: October 28, 1980 (45 Years Old)

Birthplace: USA

Wes Ball (birthname: Wesley Martin Ball) is a director and producer of four-quadrant studio blockbusters, after working on features in several capacities, including as a pre-visualization artist, graphic artist, and visual effects artist on indie filmmaker Mike Mills’s comedy-drama, Beginners (2010), co-starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, and Melanie Laurent, and which was released by Focus Features after premiering at the Toronto film festival. After making three short films as director-producer from 2002 to 2011, Ball launched his feature directing career with The Maze Runner (2014), 20^th Century Fox’s successful big-screen transfer of James Dashner’s novel starring Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, and Patricia Clarkson, and grossing ten times its $34 million budget with a global take of $348.3 million. Ball was director and executive producer of the first Maze Runner sequel, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), reuniting the original cast with new cast members Giancarlo Esposito, Aiden Gillen, Ki Hong Lee, Barry Pepper, and Lili Taylor, grossing $312.4 million against $61 million costs. Ball held the twin billings of director-producer for the first time in features with the third and final entry in the Maze Runner series with Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)—-again written by screenwriter T.S. Nowlin, adapting James Dashner’s novel—and featuring new cast member Walton Goggins alongside the returning cast, and earning a $288 million global take on a $62 budget. Wes Ball was director-producer of the highly anticipated sequel, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), the follow-up to the remarkable War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and the fourth entry in 20^th Century Studios’ Planet of the Apes rebooted franchise, co-starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Pater Macon, and William H. Macy. Ball was producer only (with, among other producers, Ridley Scott) on co-writer/director Justin Barber’s found-footage sci-fi horror movie, Phoenix Forgotten (2017), starring Chelsea Lopez and Florence Hartigan, and losing money for distributor/production company Cinelou Films with a poor $3.7 million return.

Personal Life
Movies
Facts
FAQs

Personal life

Wes Ball was born in Florida and raised in Lake Como, Florida by his parents Audrey and Thomas Ball. Ball attended and graduated from Crescent City High School in Crescent City, Florida in 1999. Ball graduated with a B.A. from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts in 2002.

Known For

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Director (2024)

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Director (2018)

Wes Ball Movies

Director

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Previous (4)

2024 |
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
2024
Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
More Info
2018 |
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
2018
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Young hero Thomas embarks on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease known as "The Flare".
More Info
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Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
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The Maze Runner

Producer

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Previous (3)

2024 |
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
2024
Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
More Info
2018 |
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
2018
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Young hero Thomas embarks on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease known as "The Flare".
More Info
2017 |
Phoenix Forgotten
Phoenix Forgotten
2017
Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Two decades after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.

Facts About Wes Ball

Mr. Box Office: Wes Ball has had a remarkable box-office run as a director, with his first three features (the three movies in the Maze Runner series) grossing a total of $948 million worldwide…and this excludes the gross of his fourth blockbuster in a row, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.