Wes Ball (born October 28, 1980) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for directing the Maze Runner film trilogy (2014–2018), based on James Dashner's series of novels of the same name, as well as Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), the fourth instalment in the Planet of the Apes reboot series. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wes Ball, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 28, 1980 (45)
- USA
- Director and producer
- 7 on MovieCove · 19 credits in all
Known for
What are Wes Ball's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
Light 0 · Serious 1 · Dark 4
Grounded 1 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 0 · Intense 5
Steady 0 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 2
Casual 0 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 1
Resolved 2 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Wes Ball's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Wes Ball's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
19 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page.

The Legend of Zelda (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2027)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Phoenix Forgotten(2017)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
The Maze Runner(2014)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
#Stuck(2014)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Telescope (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

Beginners(2010)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Ruin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

Eye of the Storm (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Masters of the Heist (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)

A Work in Progress (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Fall of Gods (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Harbinger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Ruiner (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Time Runner (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Maze Runner Reboot (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 19 titles, 12 of them dated from 2002 to 2024.
How do Wes Ball's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 61st percentile, the median of all 7; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 66th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th2
Shape of the crowd
None of their 7 titles divides audiences: 5 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 67/100 and the pacing 45/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Wes Ball's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Wes Ball work with?
People who share at least 2 of Wes Ball's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; T.S. Nowlin shares the most, 4.
Writers
- T.S. NowlinShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Phoenix Forgotten (2017), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 4 shared titles with T.S. Nowlin

- James DashnerShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with James Dashner

Actors
- Dexter DardenShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Dexter Darden

- Dylan O'BrienShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Dylan O'Brien

- Kaya ScodelarioShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Kaya Scodelario

- Ki Hong LeeShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Ki Hong Lee

Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Dan ZimmermanShared titles: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 4 shared titles with Dan Zimmerman

- John PaesanoShared titles: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 4 shared titles with John Paesano

- Gyula PadosShared titles: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Gyula Pados

Producers
- Joe Hartwick Jr.Shared titles: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 4 shared titles with Joe Hartwick Jr.

- Eddie GamarraShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Eddie Gamarra

- Ellen Goldsmith-VeinShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Ellen Goldsmith-Vein

- Lee StollmanShared titles: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Lee Stollman


