"Leon" & "Nikita" director Luc Besson says he's finished with filmmaking!

[Duende Verde]

Oh, come on, guys. He's from The Matirix, you know. He's handicapped from the start.

jag

Ah, The Matirix...
Maybe Luc Besson can come out of retirement to direct it.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

He must have a picture of Luc Besson that he licks.

genius.

 

[jaguarr]

Ah, The Matirix...
Maybe Luc Besson can come out of retirement to direct it.

Starring Neio, Morphieus and Triinity?

jag

 

[enterthemadness]

No Transporter 3?

 

[Fanticon]

He's just bitter...The Messenger bombed, and even if it was only one flop for the studio after they gave him a lot of money to make it...they've given plenty of other people a chance to redeem themselves after one bad movie. On top of that...Milla Jovovich divorced him shortly after that...the last known major studio project that he was attached to and didn't get was Tomb Raider...which he boasted, would star Milla Jovovich.
Other than that...even with the success he's had simply, producing and writing screenplays for such films like Transporter, Unleashed and Kiss of the Dragon...it seemed like he was just ducking in and out of being offerred the directors chair again...he's one of my favorite filmmakers...I was baffled...his cult status is still recognized...my friends are always saying "lets go see that new Luc Besson movie"...and then I have to step in and say..."no he only wrote the screenplay"...and that he's currently working on Arthur...a kids movie...if this one doesn't hit, then I'd say he'll quit...or retire...whatever he wants to call it.

 

[MOIDANGEREUX]

I have yet to see these!

Luc Besson has 1 in-development credit available on IMDbPro.com.

Come Like Shadows (2008) (pre-production) (producer)
Flora Plum (2006) (pre-production) (producer)
Taxi 4 (2007) (filming) (producer)
Invité, L' (2006) (post-production) (executive producer)
"Valérian et Laureline" (2006) TV Series (post-production) (producer)
Arthur and the Minimoys (2006) (post-production) (producer)
... aka Arthur and the Invisibles (USA)
... aka Arthur et les minimoys (France)
Michou d'Auber (2006) (completed) (executive producer)


Ne le dis à personne (2006) (executive producer)
... aka Tell No One (USA)
Love and Other Disasters (2006) (executive producer)
Jungle, La (2006) (associate producer) (uncredited)
Dikkenek (2006) (executive producer) (uncredited)
Avril (2006) (associate producer) (uncredited)
Quand j'étais chanteur (2006) (producer)
Meurtrières (2006) (associate producer) (uncredited)
Filles du botaniste, Les (2006) (associate producer) (uncredited)
Bandidas (2006) (producer)
The Secret (2006) (executive producer) (producer)

 

[Edd Extraordinaire]

Leon was amazing.

 

[MOIDANGEREUX]

EXCL: Luc Besson on B13 Sequel, Taken

Source: Edward Douglas
January 8, 2007

Prolific French filmmaker Luc Besson has gone on record that his upcoming kids flick Arthur and the Invisibles will be his last film as a director (either that or the sequel, depending on how the first movie does). Although the half-animated film took five years to produce, he's kept busy with his production company, while writing other films.

Last year, he co-wrote and produced the cult action film District B13, and when ComingSoon.net sat down to talk to him, he surprised us with the news that he's writing a sequel. It all started with an innocent question about when he decides that it's right to do a sequel to a movie. "It's about the feeling," he told us. "There's some film where you like the cast, you like the characters and you want to see them again. For example, 'The Transporter,' we love this guy, you want to see this guy again. The rule is we will see him again if we have a good story. If we don't have a good story, there's no film. We're not here to just take the money and run. 'B13' I want to do the sequel to, I love the two characters, and there's the room to do another one. I have the idea then I think we're going to make it."

We wondered whether District B13 director Pierre Morel, who is a very in-demand DP after shooting The Transporter and Unleashedhttp://comingsoon.net/films.php?id=5664, would helm the sequel as well, to which Besson mentioned another new project. "I will propose to him, but now he's going to direct a film for me called 'Taken,' something I wrote. Liam Neeson is going to have the first part. It's a great, great film." In the film, Neeson will play an ex-soldier, whose daughter is kidnapped by slave masters while traveling in Europe, so he must track her down before she's shipped off. Besson mentioned that there's likely to be a little bit of action for Neeson in the film, something the actor has experience with after appearing in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Batman Begins.

Before we were whisked away, we also asked Besson whether he has an idea for another "Transporter" movie somewhere in that busy mind of his, since Jason Statham had previously told us he was up for it. "If we get a good idea, it's with pleasure. Jason is lovely, and the character is great, I love the character. He's cool, he doesn't talk so much, he's low-profile, he doesn't want to show off too much. For me, he's the new cool James Bond."

Arthur and the Invisibles opens everywhere on Friday, January 12. Look for our full exclusive interview with Mr. Besson sometime before then.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=18294

 

[Cinemaman]

They all come back, when money is needed.

 

[Catman]

I don't know how to feel about this. Nikta and The Professional were awesome, but everything else was like whatever. However, his writing & producing career is pretty cool.

 

[buddha182]

Just finished an interview with Luc... Really great guy in real life... Anyway, talked to him about his end to his career:

FS: I've got to ask, is this truly your last film? Or at least was Arthur and the Invisibles truly your last film?

Luc: I don't know.

FS: Because I would love to see you come back, especially after seeing Angel-A. I'm hoping you do more.

Luc Besson: You know what. The truth is, it's a question of honesty towards myself and towards you. I won't be able to do a film just for bad reasons, for money or for - I just can't. If I have one more where I feel I can bring you something, I will do it. But after 30 years, I'm a little tired. And I'm not sure… It's like a sports car, can you beat your record every week? No. There's spring, summer, and then there's autumn, and then winter. So I'm in autumn now. Honestly, I won't block myself. And honestly to say, you know, I don't know if I can. But if I feel I can, nobody will stop me to do it.

Rie Rasmussen: It's to not sell out somewhere, and it was back then. And now you've achieved your goal without doing anything against your nature.

Luc Besson: And you know what, there are so many directors, and I'm not going to give names, but they get older and they have nothing to say and they continue to film. And for me, I'm so sad because some directors, most of them are French, I loved them so much 20 years ago, and I just want to say ‘stop, stop, you have nothing to say, just drop it.’

Rie Rasmussen: Yea, live your life, experience something, and then you're going to have a lot of things to say. But if you hang around in Hollywood, then you're going to say the same thing as everyone else - nothing.

The full interview with him and Rie Rasmussen from Angel-A can be found here (in downloadable audio format too).

Just thought I'd throw in this tidbit about him given his thoughts on ending his career. He has done some incredible films and I'm glad to still see him producing (as Catman said) but sad to see him go.

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

He's starting to direct the 2 sequels to Arthur, shot back to back to avoid seeing Freddie Highmore growing up too much between them, in a few months. And he will keep on producing movies, hopefully mine too.

 

[buddha182]

He's starting to direct the 2 sequels to Arthur, shot back to back to avoid seeing Freddie Highmore growing up too much between them, in a few months. And he will keep on producing movies, hopefully mine too.

I saw that listing for the 2 Arthur and the Invisibles sequels... I didn't like the first one much and didn't think it even made that much at the box office...

When did the announcement about him doing those come out?

 

[hitmanyr2k]

I wouldn't mind seeing Jet Li do some more collabs with Besson. Those collabs are much better than his Hollywood efforts.

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

I saw that listing for the 2 Arthur and the Invisibles sequels... I didn't like the first one much and didn't think it even made that much at the box office...
When did the announcement about him doing those come out?

Arthur has made 62 million euro (80 million $) worldwide till now, but a good part of its 65 million euro budget was already paid for with cross promotions, product placement and pre-sales to TV, like all the big budget movies.
He announced the production of the sequels some week ago, and he said it again last week at the press conference for the Italian release of Arthur here in Rome.