
Luc Besson
Highest Rated: 89% La Femme Nikita (1990)
Lowest Rated: 0% Arthur and the Great Adventure (2009)
Birthday: Mar 18, 1959
Birthplace: Paris, France
Admired in the U.S. as an ersatz French Steven Spielberg and reviled by his home country's critical elite as the man who ruined Franco cinema, writer-director-producer Luc Besson was inarguably one of the most commercially successful and prolific filmmakers ever to emerge from Europe. After establishing the slick, visual aesthetic known as "Cinéma du look" with early efforts like "Subway" (1985), "The Big Blue" (1988) and "La Femme Nikita" (1990), Besson officially crossed over to Hollywood with the films "The Professional" (1994) and "The Fifth Element" (1997). Following the disappointment of his historical epic "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" (1999), he returned - usually as a writer-producer - to stories featuring hard luck heroes and spectacular chase sequences in genre movies like "Kiss of the Dragon" (2001), "The Transporter" (2002) and "Unleashed" (2005). Amongst the numerous writing and producing projects, Besson occasionally directed more personal films, among them the low-budget fantasy-romance "Angel-A" (2005) and the family adventure "Arthur and the Invisibles" (2006), based on a series of books authored by Besson himself. Even as he neared the 30-year mark in his career, Besson continued to rack up impressive writer-producer credits on such international smash hits as "Taken" (2008). A self professed purveyor of populist entertainment, Besson's strongest response to his detractors was his lengthy career - one that allowed him the freedom to produce precisely the films he wanted to make.
Photos
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
33% | 81% | Anna |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
$7.7M | 2019 |
0% | 32% | Taxi 5 | Producer | - | 2018 |
47% | 53% | Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
$40.4M | 2017 |
11% | 40% | Renegades |
Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2017 |
50% | 34% | The Warrior's Gate |
Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2016 |
16% | 30% | The Transporter Refueled |
Screenwriter, Producer |
$16M | 2015 |
81% | 52% | The Homesman | Producer | $2.4M | 2014 |
27% | 43% | 3 Days to Kill | Screenwriter | $30.7M | 2014 |
66% | 47% | Lucy |
Director, Screenwriter |
$126.5M | 2014 |
13% | 44% | Taken 3 |
Screenwriter, Producer |
$89.3M | 2014 |
26% | 47% | Brick Mansions | Screenwriter | $20.4M | 2014 |
No Score Yet | 41% | (Almost) Charming |
Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2013 |
77% | 66% | The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart | Producer | - | 2013 |
28% | 41% | The Family |
Director, Screenwriter |
$114.5K | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart | Producer | - | 2013 |
22% | 52% | Taken 2 |
Screenwriter, Producer |
$139.9M | 2012 |
38% | 46% | Lockout | Screenwriter | $14.3M | 2012 |
No Score Yet | 28% | A Blind Man | Producer | - | 2012 |
87% | 65% | A Monster in Paris | Producer | - | 2011 |
70% | 67% | The Source | Producer | - | 2011 |
36% | 62% | The Lady | Director | - | 2011 |
27% | 67% | Colombiana |
Screenwriter, Producer |
$36.7M | 2011 |
46% | 55% | 22 Bullets | Producer | - | 2010 |
85% | 54% | The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec |
Director, Screenwriter, Writer |
- | 2010 |
20% | 42% | Arthur and the Two Worlds War |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Arthur and the Two Worlds War |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2010 |
0% | 33% | Arthur and the Great Adventure |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 2009 |
0% | 86% | Home | Producer | - | 2009 |
14% | No Score Yet | Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard |
Director, Producer, Screenwriter |
- | 2009 |
71% | 61% | I Love You Phillip Morris | Executive Producer | $2M | 2009 |
75% | 55% | District 13: Ultimatum |
Screenwriter, Producer, Writer |
$36K | 2009 |
59% | 85% | Taken |
Screenwriter, Producer |
$145M | 2008 |
40% | 49% | Transporter 3 |
Screenwriter, Producer |
$31.3M | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | My Very Best Friend | Executive Producer | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet | 42% | Taxi 4 |
Writer, Producer |
- | 2007 |
56% | 43% | Bandidas |
Writer, Producer |
- | 2006 |
20% | 57% | Love and Other Disasters | Executive Producer | - | 2006 |
22% | 56% | Arthur and the Invisibles |
Director, Writer, Producer |
$15.1M | 2006 |
52% | 58% | Transporter 2 |
Producer, Writer |
$43.1M | 2005 |
66% | 75% | Unleashed |
Writer, Producer |
$24.5M | 2005 |
45% | 74% | Angel-A |
Director, Writer, Producer |
$202.2K | 2005 |
15% | 56% | Revolver | Producer | $75.4K | 2005 |
52% | 42% | Color Me Kubrick | Executive Producer | $70.7K | 2005 |
85% | 81% | The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | Producer | $5M | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ze film | Co-Producer | - | 2004 |
80% | 78% | District B13 |
Writer, Producer |
$1.2M | 2004 |
9% | 43% | Taxi |
Writer, Producer |
$36.6M | 2004 |
No Score Yet | 45% | The Crimson Rivers II: The Angels of the Apocalypse | Writer | - | 2004 |
41% | 67% | Switchblade Romance | Producer | $3.6M | 2003 |
85% | 84% | Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior | Executive Producer | $4.6M | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 51% | Taxi 3 |
Producer, Writer |
- | 2003 |
14% | 43% | Fanfan la Tulipe |
Producer, Writer |
$28.4K | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 46% | Michel Vaillant | Writer | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet | 43% | Les Côtelettes | Producer | - | 2003 |
56% | 70% | Chaos and Desire | Producer | - | 2002 |
54% | 73% | The Transporter |
Writer, Producer |
$25.3M | 2002 |
43% | 69% | Wasabi |
Writer, Producer |
$81.5K | 2001 |
52% | 68% | Kiss of the Dragon |
Producer, Writer |
$36.8M | 2001 |
No Score Yet | 45% | August 15th | Producer | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Yamakasi |
Writer (Screenplay), Writer (Story), Producer |
$184.4K | 2001 |
No Score Yet | 67% | The Dancer |
Writer (Story), Producer |
- | 2000 |
No Score Yet | 70% | Taxi 2 |
Writer, Producer |
$729.8K | 2000 |
30% | 58% | The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc |
Director, Writer |
$14.3M | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Taxi |
Writer, Producer |
$138.5K | 1998 |
67% | 87% | Nil by Mouth | Producer | $268.9K | 1997 |
70% | 86% | The Fifth Element | Director | $63.7M | 1997 |
74% | 95% | The Professional |
Director, Screenwriter |
$19M | 1994 |
52% | 50% | Point of No Return | Writer | $27.5M | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sirga | Executive Producer | - | 1993 |
No Score Yet | 75% | Atlantis |
Director, Co-Producer, Cinematographer, Film Editor |
- | 1991 |
89% | 84% | La Femme Nikita |
Director, Writer, Co-Producer |
$5M | 1990 |
62% | 93% | The Big Blue |
Director, Writer, Writer (Story) |
$2.9M | 1988 |
75% | 75% | Subway | Director | - | 1985 |
67% | 69% | Le Dernier Combat |
Director, Screenwriter, Producer |
- | 1983 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 66% | Taken | Executive Producer | 2017-2018 |
83% | 82% | James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tavis Smiley | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | No Limit |
Creator, Writer |
2012-2015 |
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