The Legend Of Zelda Director Eyes Film To Be “A Live-Action Miyazaki”

It's been nearly a month since Nintendo announced plans to develop a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda franchise. The official press release confirmed that Nintendo and Sony will work together to develop the film with Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad as producers and The Maze Runner's Wes Ball in the directing chair.

Ball recently discussed his plans for the live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda in an interview with the American entertainment publication Entertainment Weekly (EW). He revealed some of his biggest inspirations that will likely influence the film's vision, citing an acclaimed director as one of them.

In a recent interview with EW, Ball revealed that he aims to draw inspiration from his love of the iconic gaming series and the legendary work of prominent filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Ball has been a significant "admirer" of the Studio Ghibli co-founder, who recently released his latest project, The Boy and the Heron.

Since I could never even hope to have the chance to direct it... the next big mo-cap Avatar-like movie should be... THE LEGEND OF ZELDA.

— Wes Ball (@wesball) January 29, 2010

The Maze Runner trilogy director hopes to bring these influences into The Legend of Zelda film, describing the project as "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."

Ball, who's currently on location for his next project, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, at the time of this interview, looks to start working on the film once post-production has wrapped up. "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." The director confirmed that the scripting work for the film has already started; however, he will first take "a little bit of a rest for a moment" before working on bringing Hyrule to the big screens.