Luc Besson Movies

Luc Besson and his movies

Want to know the best Luc Besson movies?  How about the worst Luc Beeson movies?  Curious about Luc Beeson box office grosses or which Luc Beeson movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Luc Beeson movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Luc Beeson (1959-) is a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. Besson is known for his distinctive film making style and is associated with the movement critics call Cinéma du look. His IMDb page shows over 100 credits since 1981. This page ranks Luc Besson movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, video games and documentaries were not included in the rankings.

Bruce Willis and Luc Besson on set of 1997’s The Fifth Element

Luc Beeson Movies Ranked In Chronological Order with Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews, and awards.

 Luc Besson Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

  • Sort Luc Besson movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Luc Besson movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Luc Besson movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Luc Besson movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Luc Besson movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Luc Besson movie won.
  • Sort Luc Besson movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.

Adjusted Luc Besson Adjusted Worldwide Box Office Grosses 

Check out Luc Besson‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Luc Besson directing Dane DeHaan in 2017’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Possibly Interesting Facts About Luc Besson

1. Luc Besson was born in Paris, France in 1959.

2. Luc Besson planned on becoming a marine biologist specializing in dolphins until a diving accident at age 17 which rendered him unable to dive any longer.

3. Luc Besson wrote the original screenplay for 1997’s The Fifth Element when he was in high school.  He started writing the screenplay when he was 16…..the movie was released when he was 38.

4. When The Fifth Element production was delayed due to Bruce Willis’ schedule, rather than dismiss the production team and lose his creative momentum, Luc Besson wrote Léon: The Professional. It took him only 30 days to write the script, and the shoot lasted only 90 days.

5. Luc Besson has used Jean Reno in 6 of his movies.  Reno was originally cast as Dallas Corbain in 1997’s The Fifth Element.

6. Luc Besson has been married four times and has five children.

7. Luc Beeson first marriage was to Anne Parillaud.  She was his leading lady in 1990’s La Femme Nikita.  His third marriage was to Milla Jovovich.  She was his leading lady in 1997’s The Fifth Element.

8. There are 200 different alien species in 2017’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.  Besson wrote a 600 page book describing in great detail all the species. The actors had to read that book prior to filming so they can adjust their acting depending on the species they were interacting with.

9. Luc Beeson and The Fifth Element Trivia Part 1:  The hero Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) and the villain Jean Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) never meet, nor do they communicate in any way. They are, in fact, unaware of each other’s degree of involvement.  (This has always amazed me!).

10. Luc Beeson and The Fifth Element Trivia Part 2: In most shots of Gary Oldman’s Zorg, there is a circle around his head. In fact, a circle in the middle of the frame is a near-constant motif in this film. Bruce Willis, on the other hand, is more often framed by a rectangle or doorway behind him.  (Pay attention to that the next time you watch the movie).

10. Check out Luc Besson’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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20 thoughts on “Luc Besson Movies”

  1. Hi Bruce, thanks for including your first page on a French director (next will be a Canadian maybe 😉 ), although I think he’s been called the most American of the French directors, which explains why he has been so busy in Hollywood. I think the films that built his reputation in the late 80s to mid-90s – Subway, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita, The Professional and later The Fifth Element – spearheaded a new style and were visually innovative. I have not seen a lot of his output since, but unfortunately it seems that both as a director and scriptwriter, he has not really kept up the creativeness of his earlier work? Looking at your chart, there are only a handful of critically and commercially successful movies over the past 20 years, and many poorly received ones. Still, an interesting director and another worthy addition to your site.

    Reply

    1. Hello Phil,

      I totaly agre with you. Nikita, Léon (the professional) and Fifth Element were very innovativ. Leon, is particulary cult for my generation, and is one of my favorite french movie. But after he made movies less interesting, and I hope Valerian is the return of the big director he was.

      Reply

      1. Hi Laurent, thanks for confirming my impression. I don’t see as many new films these days as I use to so I wasn’t sure if I missed something particularly good that Besson had done lately. I see that Taken and Lucy did quite well, and Pierre mentions that Besson’s films have been much more successful outside the US. I’ll keep an eye out for Valerian.

        Reply

        1. Hey Phil…..Lucy starts off great…I remember thinking this was his best movie since Fifth Element….and then the wheels fell off that movie. As for Taken….he did the story and screen play….but did not direct. I have not seen any of the Taxi movies….heck..they barely played here in the states. Good stuff.

          Reply

      2. Hey Laurent….not thinking Valerian is going to mark that return….at least in the United States. I saw a new projection that puts Valerian at slightly less $40 million….a lot depends on this weekend….if it drops off 70%….it will probably be out of first run movies in 2 or 3 weeks…which is amazing to me.

        Reply

    2. Hey Phil
      1. Thanks for checking out our Besson’s page.
      2. Yep…one of these days I will get a Canuck director done….Cronenberg comes to mind.
      3. I agree late 1980s and 1990s movies seem to be his peak……though Lucy was a huge hit in 2014. Talk about a movie starting off strong and fizzling out…that is Lucy in my mind.
      4. Leon and The Fifth Element are too of my all-time favorites.
      Good feedback.

      Reply

  2. Hello Bruce,

    Thank you for this page on Luc Besson. I’m not a big fan of him, because I think is a bad scripwriter. But I like him as director and I respect him as producer.

    In France, lot of people doesn’t real like him, but movies he direct have always big success. The biggest is Big Blue (le Grand Bleu) with near 9 millions admissions. Colossal in France. Second Fifth element (le Cinquième Element), third Arthur and the Invisibles (Arthur et les Minimoys), fourth The Professional (Léon), Fifth Arthur 2, and La Femme Nikita (Nikita) is the sixth. All of them attracted more than 3 millions spectators, a big score in my country.

    I’ve seen 21 films of this list, and 24 directed or produced by Luc Besson, in all.

    Reply

    1. Hey Laurent
      1. Thanks for checking out my Luc Besson page.
      2. I figured you and Pierre would like this one….so I am surprised you are not a big fan of his.
      3. Even more surprising is reading that a lot of people don’t really like him either….here in the states….he is probably the only French director younger fan films can identify.
      4. You grand total of 24 tops the list….and unless Lupino can top that number…you might have your first tally win ever. Laurent 24, Cogerson 22 (counting The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec) and Steve at 18.
      5. I looked for worldwide grosses for his early French movies….but pretty much struck out…but I did notice Subway, The Big Blue and La Femme Nikita did very well in France.
      6. So the big question is how is France responding to Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets?
      7. From what I read….Besson and his film company need it to make about $400 million in worldwide gross to survive……and with North America only going to provide about $50 million….he needs the rest of the world to really support the movie.
      Good feedback as always.

      Reply

      1. It’s not the director but the character that the French public does not always like.

        For Valerian, this is the topic of discussion number one on the forums in France.
        Indeed, it takes a big worldwide success to save the film from disaster, and everyone would like it to be. But few believe it. In fact, even for its French welcome, one is much to ask questions.
        A few months ago, everyone was convinced that it would be a big success, but the closer we get to the release date, the more we realize that there does not seem to be any real expectation for the film .
        The big question that everybody asks in the month is the date of release exactly. Why one week only after Dunquerque? Why did not we wait until August when there are no other blockbuster competing?

        So , wait and see….

        Reply

        1. Hey Laurent. Great look at how Besson’s latest is being talked about in France. I read somewhere that it needed to make $400 million in gross to save the company. That is a pretty stout number for a movie that is largely unheard of outside of France. Well at this point it looks like France and China are going to have to save Besson’s bacon.

          It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

          Reply

  3. Been a fan of his for awhile. I do not see The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec listed anywhere. That 2010 movie is my favorite Besson movie. Louise Bourgoin is very very good in that one.

    Reply

    1. Hey Dan. Too bad the Oracle does not do directors or does it? As for The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec it surprisingly never saw theaters in North America….so it was not included. I have actually seen it…..it was a very unusual movie…..it looked awesome…..almost like a James Bond in the 1900s movie. As always…thanks for the feedback.

      Reply

        1. Hey Dan…..I am thinking I am getting my Dans mixed up. Sorry about that….glad you have found our website…and even more glad to see you sharing your movie thoughts here. It is greatly appreciated.

          Reply

  4. Good subject Bruce. I’m a big fan of Luc Besson’s Leon aka The Professional and The Fifth Element starring that action guy, forgot his name… 😉

    I’ve seen 18 of the 31 movies listed. I also enjoyed the Taken and Transporter trilogies.

    Looking forward to seeing his new movie Valerian some time next week, the reviews have not been good, the two young leads have taken a lot of flak, why did Besson risk all that money on those two kids selling the movie to a jaded audience? But I’m a sucker for space based sci-fi and this looks like a colorful roller coaster ride of a movie. I like the alien designs and have already bought the Art of the Film book.

    Good trivia on Luc. I remember you mentioning before that hero Korben Dallas (Willis) never comes into contact with villain Zorg (Oldman) in The Fifth Element. That had never occured to me before in all the times I’ve seen it and how uncommon that is in movies.

    Taken no.1 on the box office chart. I thought Lucy was his biggest hit? Maybe in worldwide grosses?

    Top work Bruce. Vote Up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve.
      1. Leon and The Fifth Element are two of my all-time favorite movies…which makes the fact that he made them back to back even more impressive.
      2 Tally count….I am at 21…..to your 18…..but it will be awhile before I see Valerian: The Movie With The Really Long Name…..so you will close the gap…at least for awhile.
      3. I agree….seems investing some money on a bigger star would have been wise…especially here in the states…Dane DeHaan’s biggest claim to fame is that he looks like a young DiCaprio. To put him as the face of a $207 million dollar movie does not make a whole lot of sense.
      4. I just had to include the Fifth Element trivia….took right off my Gary Oldman trivia section….but it is some my favorite movie trivia ever!
      5. Lucy is his biggest worldwide hit….just edging out The Fifth Element when looking at adjusted gross…..but Taken is his champ here in North America.
      Good stuff.

      Reply

  5. Love his movies. I did not know his movies had a French genre name. Love The Fifth Element. Did not know he was involved in Taken. Never heard of the Taxi movies. Thought his latest was pretty to look at but disappointing as a whole.

    Reply

    1. Hey Helakoski….thanks for checking out our newest page. I like his movies as well. I was sorry to read your mini-review of his latest….seems his dream project is turning into an actual nightmare. So sad.

      Reply

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