Wes Ball talks with HeyUGuys

To promote TMR's release in the UK, Wes Ball chats all things The Maze Runner with HeyUGuys.

Here are the highlights:

On his respect for other filmmakers:

I have a newfound respect for anybody who makes a movie that makes it up on screen. Because it is so hard. There are so many things that are against you, so many challenges that are out of your control. It’s crazy. I’m not so hard on movies any more because I know how difficult it really is.

On the fanbase:

They’re really happy with the cast so it’s the best kind of pressure. It makes you reach for something that will make them happy, but at the same time you have to keep your eye on the fact that you need to make a movie and it’s got to work as a movie. So I’m not replacing the book, I’m just making something to live parallel alongside the book.

On the YA adaptation genre:

People like labelling things, and it definitely puts a target on our back, so it’s interesting. I’ll take any comparisons to The Hunger Games for sure, but hopefully we transcend it a little in the movie. I wanted to make a cool movie with kids in it, not a kids movie. I try to make something like The Goonies, or Jurassic Park or Raiders, something adventurous and fun that I grew up on. I wanted to tap into that, I didn’t think about the whole YA thing.


On the cast:

Yeah when I first came on I immediately pictured Kaya. I wanted Effy from Skins. Will, too. As soon as I came in they were two people I knew I wanted. Then I found Thomas, I was like, oh, the Love Actually kid. He is so good in the movie. Everyone is, but I hope that in a few years people will look back at this movie and, if nothing else, say, ‘wow look at all of those future stars when they were younger’. They’re all committed and gave 110%. I couldn’t have been more fortunate. They were all game for anything. Dylan will be a star too. An obvious star, he’s a relatable guy you couldn’t help but like, who is very humble and talented and funny and good looking. Bastard. If nothing else we have characters you care about and want to see in the next one.

On the potential and excitement surround The Scorch Trials:

Yeah, and while my head is not there right now, we’re starting to right a script now, sitting in rooms all day trying to make it super special. I’m not going to do it unless it’s freaking awesome! We’ll have to make some changes again, of course, but hopefully we’ll have a whole new set of fans from the movie that we’ll also need to appease, not just the fans of the books. It will be a different kind of sequel, which is fun, we don’t want to do something that has the same notes as the other, we want to explore new ideas and new challenges for these kids, and it’ll be cool if we get it.

And you will get to, Wes! Be sure to check out the rest of the great interview here!