Luc Besson: The Life Story Behind France's Blockbuster Director

Luc Besson is the French director who turned big, bold, visual cinema into a French export. His films are not quiet or small. They are full of colour, movement, music, and heroes who fight against a world that is bigger than they are. From the deep blue sea of Le Grand Bleu to the neon future of The Fifth Element, Besson has built worlds that audiences remember long after they leave the cinema. He is also a producer and a studio builder, and his company, EuropaCorp, helped bring French action films to screens around the world.

Besson’s story begins far from a film set. He was born in Paris in 1959, to parents who worked as diving instructors, and as a boy he spent much of his time in and around the sea. He wanted to be a marine biologist, and the ocean was his first great love. An eye injury changed that plan, and a young man who had dreamed of the sea turned instead to the cinema. That turn, from water to film, shaped everything that followed, because the sea never left his work. It returned again and again, in images, in moods, and in the feeling of a deep, blue world.

What makes Besson’s career worth telling is its scale and its speed. He made his first feature film in his early twenties, he had a major hit before he was thirty, and by the 1990s he was making films that played in cinemas all over the world. He worked with French stars and with Hollywood stars, he built a studio, and he kept making films even when some of them failed. His story is about ambition, about visual imagination, and about a director who never wanted to make small films when he could make big ones.

There is a moment in many of Luc Besson’s films when the camera pulls back, the music swells, and the audience realises that it is not watching a small, realistic drama, but a world that has been built, in detail, for the pleasure of the eye. That moment, of wonder, of colour, of movement, is the signature of Besson’s cinema, and it is what makes his films feel different from the work of other French directors. He does not hide his love of spectacle. He celebrates it, he builds it, and he invites the audience to enjoy it, even when the story is about a diver, a hitman, or a girl with orange hair in the future.

A Boy of the Sea in Paris

Luc Besson was born on 18 March 1959 in Paris, and his early life was shaped by his parents’ work as diving instructors. The family spent time by the sea, and the young Luc learned to love the water, the light under the surface, and the quiet world that exists below the waves. He was a good swimmer and a keen diver, and for a time he believed his future would be in the sea, studying marine life and spending his working days in the water.

As a teenager, Besson suffered an eye injury in a diving accident, and that injury changed his path. He could no longer dive in the way he had hoped, and the career he had imagined was no longer open to him. For a young person, such a loss can feel like the end of a dream, but Besson found a new dream in its place. He turned to cinema, a world that also offered depth, light, and the chance to explore places that most people never see. The sea did not disappear from his life. It moved into his films, where it would return as a place of beauty, danger, and freedom.

Besson began to learn about film by watching, by working on sets, and by making short films. He was not a student who followed a slow, academic path into directing. He was a young man who wanted to make films, and he learned by doing. He worked as an assistant, he watched directors at work, and he began to form his own ideas about what a film could look like. He was drawn to visual storytelling, to images that could carry feeling without many words, and to heroes who were outsiders in a world that did not understand them.

Those early years matter because they explain the look of Besson’s films. He did not come to cinema through books or theory alone. He came through the sea, through the body, and through the eye. His films are physical, they move fast, and they trust the image to do much of the work. The boy who once dived into blue water became a director who could make an audience feel as if it were diving into a new world every time the lights went down.

Le Dernier Combat and the First Films

Besson made his first feature film, Le Dernier Combat, in 1983, when he was only twenty-four years old. The film was shot in black and white, it had almost no dialogue, and it told the story of a man surviving in a ruined world after a disaster. It was a bold first film, and it showed a director who was already confident about images, about silence, and about building a world from almost nothing. The film won attention at festivals, and it marked Besson as a young director to watch.

Two years later, in 1985, he made Subway, a film set in the Paris metro, with a young cast and a fast, musical energy. Subway was a success in France, and it showed that Besson could make a popular film without losing his visual style. The film’s hero was a thief who hides in the underground world of the metro, and the story mixed action, romance, and music in a way that felt fresh. The film also brought Besson together with actors who would work with him again, and it helped him build a reputation as a director who understood young audiences.

These early films were made on modest budgets, but they did not look modest. Besson used light, colour, and movement to make small sets feel large, and he used music to give his films a pulse. He was learning his craft in public, and each film was a step forward. Le Dernier Combat had shown his eye, Subway had shown his energy, and the next film would show that he could make a work of great beauty that would stay with audiences for years.

By the late 1980s, Besson was no longer a beginner. He had made two feature films, he had won festival attention, and he had a growing audience in France. He was ready for a bigger canvas, and the sea, the place where his story had begun, was waiting to return to the centre of his work.

Le Grand Bleu: The Sea Returns

In 1988, Besson released Le Grand Bleu, known in English as The Big Blue, a film about two free divers, Jacques Mayol and Enzo Molinari, and their rivalry, their friendship, and their love of the deep sea. The film was shot in beautiful blue waters, with long, slow scenes under the surface and a score by Eric Serra that gave the film a dreamlike feeling. It was a very personal film for Besson, because it returned to the sea that had shaped his childhood and to the dream he had lost as a teenager.

Le Grand Bleu was a huge success in France, where it became one of the most popular French films of the decade. Audiences loved its beauty, its calm, and its sense of freedom, and many young people saw it again and again. Outside France, the film was also noticed, although it was cut and changed for some markets, and Besson was unhappy with some of those changes. In France, however, the film’s place was secure. It was a film that people quoted, that they remembered, and that they associated with the sea, with youth, and with a longing for a simpler, deeper life.

The success of Le Grand Bleu changed Besson’s career. He was now a director whose name was known to a wide audience, and he had proved that he could make a film that was both beautiful and popular. The film also confirmed his style: strong images, a musical score that carried the emotion, and heroes who were driven by a passion that other people found hard to understand. The diver who goes deeper than anyone else, who risks his life for the feeling of freedom under water, was a perfect hero for Besson, because he was an outsider who followed his own path.

After Le Grand Bleu, Besson could have stayed with gentle, beautiful films, but he chose a different direction. He turned to action, to crime, and to stories of people who live on the edge of the law, and that turn would bring him his next great successes.

Nikita, Leon, and the Action Years

In 1990, Besson released La Femme Nikita, a film about a young woman who is trained to become an assassin after being arrested for a crime. The film was a hit in France and abroad, and it showed Besson’s gift for action, for pace, and for creating a strong female hero who was both dangerous and vulnerable. Nikita was not a simple action film. It was a story about a woman who is given a second chance, who learns to live a new life, and who finds that the new life is as hard as the old one. The film’s success led to remakes and to a television series, and it made Besson’s name known in Hollywood.

Four years later, in 1994, he made Leon, known in some countries as The Professional, a film about a hitman in New York who takes in a young girl, Mathilda, after her family is killed. The film starred Jean Reno as Leon and a very young Natalie Portman as Mathilda, and it became one of Besson’s most loved films. Leon was a quiet, lonely man who lived by strict rules, and Mathilda was a child who had lost everything and who wanted revenge. The film mixed action with tenderness, and it gave audiences a story that was both thrilling and sad. Leon remains one of the most famous French films of the 1990s, and it is still watched and quoted today.

These two films established Besson as a director who could make action films with heart. He did not just film chases and fights. He filmed people, and he gave his heroes a past, a wound, and a reason to fight. The films also showed his eye for casting. Jean Reno, who had worked with Besson before, became his regular leading man, and Natalie Portman’s performance in Leon launched her career. Besson had a talent for finding actors and for giving them roles that suited them, and that talent would serve him well in the years that followed.

By the middle of the 1990s, Besson was one of the most successful French directors working, and he was ready for his biggest film yet, a science-fiction epic that would take him to a new scale.

The Fifth Element and a World of Colour

In 1997, Besson released The Fifth Element, a science-fiction film set in the future, starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman. The film was a huge, colourful, noisy adventure, with flying cars, strange creatures, and a hero who must save the world with the help of a mysterious woman named Leeloo. It was the most expensive French film made up to that time, and it was a major success around the world, earning far more than it cost and becoming a cult favourite that is still loved today.

The Fifth Element showed Besson at his most visual. The film’s world was designed in detail, with costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier, sets that mixed Paris with the future, and a score that mixed opera with electronic music. The film was fun, fast, and full of imagination, and it proved that a French director could make a Hollywood-scale science-fiction film without losing his own style. For many viewers, The Fifth Element is the film that defines Besson, because it has everything he loves: a strong hero, a strange world, a fast pace, and a sense of wonder.

The success of the film also gave Besson the freedom to build something larger than a single film. He had shown that French cinema could compete with Hollywood in the world of big entertainment, and he wanted to create a structure that would let French filmmakers do that again and again. That ambition would lead him to found a company, to produce other directors’ films, and to become a major figure in the French film industry, not just as a director but as a builder.

The Fifth Element remains a landmark in French cinema. It is a film that people still watch, still quote, and still enjoy, and it is a reminder that Besson’s imagination was at its boldest when he was given the largest canvas. The film’s success also set the stage for the next phase of his career, in which he would move between directing and producing, and in which he would try to change the French film industry itself.

EuropaCorp, Taken, and the Producer Years

In 2000, Besson founded EuropaCorp, a film production and distribution company, with the aim of making French films that could compete around the world. The company produced action films, comedies, and family films, and it became one of the most important independent studios in Europe. Besson was no longer just a director. He was a producer, a studio head, and a businessman who wanted to give French cinema a stronger place in the global market.

EuropaCorp’s greatest success as a producer came with Taken, released in 2008, a film starring Liam Neeson as a former agent who must rescue his daughter from kidnappers in Paris. Besson co-wrote and produced the film, and it became a huge hit around the world, earning far more than its budget and launching a series of sequels. Taken showed that Besson’s instinct for action, for a simple, powerful story, and for a hero with a clear mission, could work even when he was not directing. The film’s success made EuropaCorp a name that audiences knew, and it gave the company the money to make more films.

During these years, Besson also directed other films, including The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc in 1999, Arthur and the Invisibles, a family fantasy series, and Lucy in 2014, a science-fiction action film starring Scarlett Johansson that became another worldwide hit. Lucy, about a woman who gains extraordinary mental powers, was a success that showed Besson could still make a popular film in a new decade, and it became one of the highest-grossing French films of all time.

The producer years were busy and productive, but they also brought challenges. EuropaCorp grew fast, it took on large debts, and some of its films did not succeed. Besson had to balance the creative work of directing with the business work of running a company, and that balance was not always easy. The story of EuropaCorp is a story of ambition, of success, and of the risks that come with trying to build a studio that can compete with Hollywood.

Later Films, Valerian, and a Changing Career

In 2017, Besson released Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, a science-fiction epic based on a French comic, starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne. The film was visually stunning, with a vast, detailed future world, but it was a major financial failure, losing a large amount of money for EuropaCorp and forcing the company to restructure. Valerian was a personal project for Besson, who had loved the comic since he was young, but the film’s failure showed how risky big-budget cinema can be, even for a director with a long record of success.

After Valerian, Besson’s career entered a quieter and more difficult phase. EuropaCorp faced financial problems, and Besson faced public allegations of misconduct, which he denied. The allegations, which were widely reported, led to investigations, and Besson has maintained that he did nothing wrong. The period was hard for his reputation, and it slowed his work, but he continued to make films, including Anna in 2019 and Dogman in 2023, and he continued to work as a director and writer.

These later years are a reminder that a long career in film is never a straight line. Besson has known great success, with films that are still loved around the world, and he has also known failure, controversy, and financial trouble. His story is not a simple tale of a director who always won. It is a story of a man who aimed high, who built a studio, who made some of the most popular French films ever made, and who then had to face the consequences when a big bet did not pay off.

Today, Besson remains a central figure in French cinema, known for his visual style, his action films, and his ambition. His early films are still watched, his hits are still quoted, and his place in the history of French film is secure, even as his later career continues to unfold.

Legacy of a Visual Storyteller

Luc Besson’s legacy is the idea that French cinema can be big, bold, and popular around the world. Before Besson, French film was often associated with small, serious dramas, and with the art-house cinema of the New Wave. Besson showed that French directors could also make action films, science-fiction epics, and family adventures that played in cinemas everywhere. He did not abandon French cinema. He expanded it, and he gave it a new kind of energy.

His films have also left a lasting mark on popular culture. Le Grand Bleu is still a reference for the sea and for freedom, Leon is still a reference for the lonely hero and the child who needs protection, and The Fifth Element is still a reference for colourful, imaginative science fiction. These films are not just French films. They are films that people around the world know, and that is a rare achievement for a director who works in France.

As a producer and studio builder, Besson also left a legacy in the form of EuropaCorp, which gave many French filmmakers a chance to make films that might not otherwise have been made. The company’s successes and its failures are both part of that legacy, because they show what happens when a filmmaker tries to build a studio that can compete with Hollywood. The ambition was large, the risks were large, and the results were mixed, but the attempt itself changed French cinema.

For younger directors, Besson offers a lesson in visual imagination and in ambition. He teaches that a film should be seen as well as heard, that a world should be built in detail, and that a director should not be afraid to aim for a large audience. His career is a reminder that cinema is a visual art, and that a director who trusts the image can make films that travel across languages and cultures.

Music, Colour, and the Besson Look

Luc Besson’s films are easy to recognise, even without seeing his name, because they share a visual language that is unmistakably his. The colours are strong, the blues are deep, the oranges are warm, and the light is used to create a mood, not just to illuminate a scene. His long-time composer, Eric Serra, has written scores that are as important as the images, with music that carries the emotion, that gives a scene its pulse, and that stays in the mind long after the film ends. The combination of image and music is the heart of Besson’s style, and it is why his films feel like dreams, even when they are about crime or about the future.

That style did not come from nowhere. Besson learned it by watching films, by working on sets, and by trusting his own eye, an eye that was trained by the sea, by diving, and by looking at the world under water, where light behaves differently, where colours are deeper, and where silence is more powerful than noise. The sea taught him to see, and cinema gave him a way to share that seeing with an audience. His films are full of water, of blue, of light filtering through a surface, and that imagery returns again and again, from Le Grand Bleu to The Fifth Element.

Besson also has a gift for casting, for finding actors who fit his world, and for giving them roles that suit their faces, their bodies, and their energy. Jean Reno, with his calm, strong presence, became Besson’s regular hero, a man who can be silent and still be the centre of a scene. Natalie Portman, as a young girl in Leon, showed a talent that would make her a star, and Milla Jovovich, as Leeloo in The Fifth Element, gave a performance that was both strange and lovable. Besson does not cast stars for their fame. He casts people who can live in his world, and that is why his films feel so alive.

The Besson look is also a commercial look, a style that can sell a film around the world, and that is part of why his films have been so successful. He understood early that a French film could be popular, that it could play in America, in Asia, and in many other countries, if it was visual, if it was exciting, and if it told a simple, powerful story. That understanding led him to build EuropaCorp, to produce Taken, and to try to create a French studio that could compete with Hollywood. The ambition was large, and the results were mixed, but the look, the colour, and the music remain, and they are the reason his films are still watched.

In the end, the Besson look is a reminder that cinema is a visual art, that a film should be seen as well as heard, and that a director who trusts the image can make films that travel across languages and cultures. That is a lesson that young directors can learn from Besson, even if they do not share his taste for spectacle, and it is a legacy that will last as long as people still go to the cinema to see a world they have never seen before.

My Take:

When I think about Luc Besson, the first thing I see is colour. His films are not grey or quiet. They are blue, orange, red, and full of light, and they move with a speed that makes you feel as if you are inside the story, not just watching it. I admire that, because so many films today feel safe and flat, as if the director is afraid to try something bold. Besson was never afraid. He built a future Paris, he filmed the deep sea, he put a hitman and a child together in New York, and he made each world feel real. That courage is what I respect most about him.

I also admire the way his life began with the sea. He wanted to be a marine biologist, he lost that dream because of an eye injury, and he found a new dream in film. That is a story I think about a lot, because it shows that a lost dream does not have to be the end. Besson did not give up on the sea. He brought the sea into his films, and he made Le Grand Bleu, a film that is still one of the most beautiful French films ever made. I think that is a lesson for anyone who has lost a plan. You do not have to forget the plan. You can carry it into a new life, and it can make the new life richer.

Le Grand Bleu is the film I return to most when I think about Besson. It is slow, it is blue, and it is full of a longing for freedom that I find moving. The divers go down into a world that is quiet and deep, and for a moment they are free from the noise of the surface. I think Besson understood that feeling because he had lived it as a diver, and he filmed it with a love that you can feel in every shot. That film is not just a story about divers. It is a story about a man who loved the sea and who found a way to share that love with millions of people.

I also love Leon, because it is a film that should not work, and yet it does. A hitman and a young girl, a story about revenge and protection, a film that mixes violence with tenderness in a way that could easily have gone wrong. Besson made it work because he filmed the two characters with care, and because he let the audience see the loneliness in both of them. Jean Reno is quiet and strong, Natalie Portman is young and fierce, and together they make a pair that stays with you. I think that film shows Besson’s gift for casting and for finding the human heart inside an action story.

The Fifth Element is a different kind of pleasure. It is loud, funny, and full of imagination, and it is a film that I can watch again and again without getting tired of it. The world is so detailed, the costumes are so bold, and the pace is so fast that the film feels like a ride. I admire Besson for making a science-fiction film that is not dark and heavy, but bright and fun, and for proving that a French director could make a film that played everywhere in the world. That was a bold claim, and he made it with a film that still makes people smile.

I think about EuropaCorp, too, and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I admire the ambition. Besson wanted to build a French studio that could compete with Hollywood, and he wanted to give French filmmakers a chance to make big films. That is a brave goal, and Taken showed that it could work. On the other hand, the story of EuropaCorp shows how risky that ambition is. Valerian was a huge bet, and when it failed, the company suffered, and Besson’s career suffered with it. I do not think that failure erases the successes, but it does remind me that building a studio is harder than making a film, and that even a talented director can make a business mistake.

The later years of Besson’s career are harder to write about, and I want to be honest about that. The allegations against him, which he has denied, have cast a shadow over his work, and I do not want to pretend that they do not matter. I do not know the full truth of those cases, and I will not guess, but I know that they have affected how people see his films, and that is part of his story now. I think the right way to remember Besson is to hold both the films and the controversy in mind, and to let the facts, not rumours, decide what we think. The films are real, the controversy is real, and both are part of the man.

If I have a criticism, it is that some of Besson’s later films feel less personal than his early ones. Le Grand Bleu and Leon feel like films that only Besson could have made, because they carry his love of the sea and his feeling for lonely heroes. Some of the later films feel more like products, made to fit a market, and I miss the personal touch. That is not a harsh criticism. It is a sadness, because I know what Besson can do when he makes a film from the heart, and I want to see more of that.

I also think about what Besson teaches young directors. He teaches them to trust the image, to build a world in detail, and to aim for a large audience without being ashamed of it. In France, there is sometimes a feeling that a popular film is less serious than a small art film, and Besson challenged that feeling. He showed that a film can be popular and still be made with care, with imagination, and with a personal vision. That is a lesson I hope young directors remember, because cinema needs both kinds of films, and it needs directors who are not afraid to be popular.

When I look at Besson’s whole career, from Le Dernier Combat to Dogman, I see a director who never stopped trying to make big films. He did not settle for a small, safe career. He aimed for the sea, for the future, for the biggest screens, and he reached them more than once. That ambition is inspiring, even when it leads to failure, because it shows what a director can do when he believes in his own vision. I would rather watch a director who aims high and sometimes fails than a director who never aims at all.

In the end, I think Luc Besson will be remembered for his images. The blue sea, the future Paris, the lonely hitman, the girl with orange hair, the diver going deeper and deeper. Those images stay in the mind, and they are the reason his films are still watched. A director’s legacy is not just a list of awards. It is the pictures that stay with people, and Besson has given us many pictures that will stay for a long time.

I think about the sea a lot when I think about Besson, because the sea is where his story begins, and it is where his best film, Le Grand Bleu, returns. The image of a diver going deeper and deeper, into blue water, into silence, into a world that is both beautiful and dangerous, is a perfect image for Besson’s cinema. He is a director who likes to go deep, to go far, and to take the audience with him, even when the journey is risky. That willingness to go deep is what I admire most about him.

I also think about the eye injury that changed his life, and how a loss can become a new beginning. Besson wanted to be a marine biologist, he lost that dream, and he found a new dream in film. That is a story that gives me hope, because it shows that a plan that fails does not have to be the end. It can be the start of something else, something you did not expect, and that something else can be even better than the original plan. I think about that when I feel stuck, when a door closes, and I remember Besson, who turned from the sea to the cinema and made a film about the sea that is still loved today.

Leon is a film I return to often, because it is a story about two lonely people who find each other, a hitman and a young girl, and who form a bond that is both strange and tender. The film could have been exploitative, it could have been cynical, but Besson films it with care, with respect, and with a focus on the humanity of both characters. Jean Reno is quiet, strong, and sad, Natalie Portman is young, fierce, and vulnerable, and together they make a pair that stays with you. I think that film shows Besson’s gift for finding the heart inside an action story, and for making a film that is both thrilling and moving.

The Fifth Element is a different kind of pleasure, a loud, colourful, funny film that I can watch again and again. The world is so detailed, the costumes are so bold, and the pace is so fast that the film feels like a ride, a journey through a future Paris that is both familiar and strange. I admire Besson for making a science-fiction film that is not dark and heavy, but bright and fun, and for proving that a French director could make a film that played everywhere. That was a bold claim, and he made it with a film that still makes people smile.

I think about EuropaCorp, too, and about the ambition to build a French studio that could compete with Hollywood. On one hand, I admire that ambition, because it shows a director who thinks big, who wants to change the industry, and who is willing to take risks. On the other hand, the story of EuropaCorp shows how risky that ambition is, how a big bet like Valerian can fail, and how a studio can grow too fast and take on too much debt. I do not think the failure erases the successes, but it does remind me that building a studio is harder than making a film, and that even a talented director can make a business mistake.

The later years of Besson’s career are harder to write about, and I want to be honest about that. The allegations against him, which he has denied, have cast a shadow over his work, and I do not want to pretend they do not matter. I do not know the full truth, and I will not guess, but I know they have affected how people see his films, and that is part of his story now. I think the right way to remember Besson is to hold both the films and the controversy in mind, and to let the facts, not rumours, decide what we think.

I also think about what Besson teaches young directors about visual imagination. He teaches them to trust the image, to build a world in detail, and to aim for a large audience without being ashamed of it. In France, there is sometimes a feeling that a popular film is less serious than a small art film, and Besson challenged that feeling. He showed that a film can be popular and still be made with care, with imagination, and with a personal vision. That is a lesson I hope young directors remember.

Finally, I think about the images that stay with me: the blue sea, the future Paris, the lonely hitman, the girl with orange hair, the diver going deeper. Those images are the reason Besson’s films are still watched, and they are the reason I think he will be remembered. A director’s legacy is not just a list of awards. It is the pictures that stay in people’s minds, and Besson has given us many pictures that will stay for a long time.

I think about the future of Besson’s work, too, and whether he will make another film that captures the world’s imagination as Le Grand Bleu or The Fifth Element did. He is still working, still writing, and still directing, and I believe he has more films in him, even if they are smaller, quieter, or different from his early hits. A director who has made films for forty years does not stop because of one failure, and I hope Besson keeps going, keeps trying, and keeps giving us images that stay with us.

Another idea that stays with me is about the sea, and how it returns in Besson’s work as a place of freedom, of beauty, and of danger. The diver who goes deeper than anyone else, who risks his life for the feeling of freedom under water, is a perfect hero for Besson, because he is an outsider who follows his own path, even when others do not understand it. That hero, that diver, is Besson himself, in a way, a man who follows his own vision, even when the world tells him to be safe.

Finally, I think about the young directors who watch Besson’s films and who learn from them, who see that a French film can be big, bold, and popular, and who are inspired to make their own big films. That inspiration is a legacy, even if it is hard to measure, and it is why Besson’s place in French cinema is secure, even as his later career continues to unfold, with new films, new challenges, and new images to share.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Luc Besson born and how did he start in film?

Luc Besson was born on 18 March 1959 in Paris, to parents who worked as diving instructors. He first wanted to be a marine biologist, but an eye injury ended that plan, and he turned to cinema, learning by working on sets and making short films.

What was Luc Besson’s first feature film?

His first feature film was Le Dernier Combat, released in 1983, a black-and-white film with almost no dialogue about a man surviving in a ruined world. It won festival attention and marked him as a director to watch.

Which Luc Besson films are the most famous?

His most famous films include Le Grand Bleu, La Femme Nikita, Leon, The Fifth Element, and Lucy. Each of these films became widely known in France and around the world for its visual style and strong story.

What is EuropaCorp?

EuropaCorp is the film company Besson founded in 2000 to make French films that could compete around the world. It produced Taken, Lucy, and many other films, and it became one of Europe’s most important independent studios.

Why did Valerian fail at the box office?

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, released in 2017, was a very expensive science-fiction film that did not earn enough money to cover its costs. Its failure caused serious financial problems for EuropaCorp, even though the film was visually praised.

Is Luc Besson still making films?

Yes, Besson has continued to direct and write films in recent years, including Anna in 2019 and Dogman in 2023, even as his career has faced financial and public challenges.