Luc Besson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Luc Besson
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Besson at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2016
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| Born |
Luc Paul Maurice Besson
18 March 1959 Paris, France
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| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Virginie Silla
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 5, including Shanna and Thalia |
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (born 18 March 1959) is a famous French filmmaker. He is known for directing and producing many exciting movies. Some of his well-known films include Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990).
He has been nominated for important awards like the César Award for Best Director and Best Picture for films such as Léon: The Professional (1994) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). He won Best Director for his science fiction action film The Fifth Element (1997). He also wrote and directed the sci-fi action movie Lucy (2014) and the space adventure Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017).
Early in his career, in 1980, Luc Besson started his own production company. Later, in 2000, he co-founded EuropaCorp with his friend Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. As a writer, director, or producer, Besson has worked on more than 50 films.
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Early Life and Dreams
Luc Besson was born in Paris, France. His parents were scuba-diving instructors. Because of this, he spent a lot of his childhood traveling with them to sunny places like Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece. He loved the ocean and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist.
When he was 10, his family moved back to France. At age 17, Luc had a diving accident. This accident meant he could no longer dive. He had to think about what else he could do. He realized he loved writing and taking pictures. This made him think about making movies. He visited a film set and decided right away that filmmaking was what he wanted to do. He left school to follow his new dream.
Filmmaking Career
Luc Besson started writing stories when he was a teenager. Some of these ideas later became famous movies, like The Fifth Element (1997). This movie was inspired by the French comic books he read as a kid.
When he was 18, Besson moved back to Paris. He took many different jobs in the film industry to learn how everything worked. He worked as an assistant to other directors. He also directed short films and commercials. After living in the United States for three years, he returned to Paris and started his own film company.
A Unique Film Style
Critics often talk about Luc Besson's early films as part of a style called Cinéma du look. This was a very visual style of filmmaking popular in France from the 1980s to the early 1990s. His movies Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990) are examples of this style.
This style focused on making movies look very cool and exciting, sometimes more than telling a deep story. Besson and other filmmakers of this style wanted to make movies that looked better and were more fun to watch.
Popular Movies
Many of Luc Besson's films have been very popular with audiences. For example, The Big Blue was a huge hit in France. Even though some critics didn't love it at first, young people watched it again and again. It sold 10 million tickets and became a "generational film" in France.
Besson's La Femme Nikita (1990) was one of his first action films. He went on to write and produce many more action movies. These include the Taxi series (1998–2007) and Transporter series (2002–2008). He also worked on films starring Jet Li like Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed.
From 2002 to 2005, Besson created the very popular Arthur series of children's fantasy novels. He directed Arthur and the Invisibles (2006), which was a movie based on the first two books. This film combined live action with animation and featured famous actors like Madonna and Robert DeNiro.
His English-language films Taken, Taken 2, and Taken 3 were also very successful. Taken 2 became the highest-earning French film exported around the world.
Studio Work and Big Projects
In 2000, Luc Besson co-founded EuropaCorp with Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. Besson wanted EuropaCorp to be a big film studio like those in America, but still make French films with French talent. Even if the movies were in English and starred international actors, he wanted them made in France.
By 2011, Besson was spending most of his time at EuropaCorp as a writer and producer. He directed The Lady (2011), a movie about Aung San Suu Kyi.
Luc Besson found great success again with Lucy (2014). This film became the most successful French feature film worldwide, earning $469 million.
His movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) had a very large budget, making it one of the most expensive European and independent films ever made.
Recent Work
Luc Besson continues to make films. His movie June & John (2025) was filmed in a special way during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It was shot using only smartphones and a small crew. He said it felt good to be creative without the pressure of money.
In 2022, Besson tried a new way of filmmaking for Dogman (2023). He used a virtual production facility in France. Dogman was shown at the 80th Venice International Film Festival in August 2023. It was released in French cinemas in September 2023.
In summer 2024, Besson directed Dracula: A Love Tale, a new version of the classic Dracula story. It stars Caleb Landry Jones and Christophe Waltz. This film is expected to be released in July 2025.
In 2025, it was announced that Besson would direct The Last Man, a science fiction film starring rapper Snoop Dogg.
Working with Others
Luc Besson often works with the same talented people. He met Éric Serra in the early 1980s and asked him to create music for his first short film. Serra has composed music for many of Besson's movies since then.
French actor Jean Reno has appeared in several of Besson's films, including Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), La Femme Nikita (1990), and Léon: The Professional (1994).
Besson also worked with American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen on The Fifth Element (1997). They later wrote the Transporter action series together. They also co-wrote Taken (2008), Taken 2 (2012), and Taken 3 (2014), all starring Liam Neeson.
In 2024, Besson said he was very impressed with actor Caleb Landry Jones after working with him on Dogman. He said Jones is "crazily talented."
Awards and Recognition
Luc Besson has received many awards for his work. He won the Lumière Award for Best Director and the César Award for Best Director for his film The Fifth Element (1997). He was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture César Awards for Léon: The Professional (1994) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999).
Other awards include the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Critics Prize for Le Dernier Combat in 1983. He also won the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Director for La Femme Nikita in 1990. In 1997, he received the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for Nil by Mouth.
Besson was given the Inkpot Award in 2016, which honors people who have contributed to the world of comics, science fiction, and fantasy.
Music Videos Directed
Luc Besson has also directed several music videos:
- "Pull Marine" for Isabelle Adjani (1983)
- "Mon légionnaire" for Serge Gainsbourg (1988)
- "Que mon cœur lâche" for Mylène Farmer (1992)
- "Love Profusion" for Madonna (2003)
- "I Feel Everything" for Cara Delevingne (2017)
See also
In Spanish: Luc Besson para niños
