“The Fifth Element”: how Luc Besson’s space opera conquered the skin 25 years ago

Getting off the main skin party list takes a lot. But the event, which cost a record $1 million at the festival and features performances by Jean-Paul Gauthier, futuristic ballet and guests including the biggest couple on Planet A, not to mention specially created Swatch Hours for dinner, fireworks and tickets. looks like you have the correct funny credentials.

it was a party in question the fifth Element, which opened the 50th Cannes Film Festival in 1997 in flamboyant, star-studded style and is now firmly on the list of cult classics. Luke Besson’s Wild Space Opera, starring Bruce Willis and his then-wife Demi Moore, as well as actors Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker and Mila Jovovich (wearing the Style of the Year skirt), climbed the palace steps for the world premiere. This was followed by a grand display of over 100,000 square feet of space for 1,000 guests in a purpose-built oceanfront space. And all that brilliance was the precursor to over $260 million at the worldwide box office, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of all time.

In the 25 years since its release, much has been written about its creation. the fifth Element And how his epic journey that ended in a cruise began as an idea in Besson’s imaginary chapter when he was just 16 years old. But it wasn’t just a cinematic odyssey for the director, who was 38 when he hit theaters. French studio Gaumont took over the project in its infancy and spent a full nine years developing it, during which time Besson made three more films, before the camera was taken. The company still took most of the budget, making it by far the most expensive European film of all time.

According to the head of the then Gumont and the fifth ElementHead producer Patrice Ledu first picked up Besson’s colorful sci-fi adventure, or even his idea, when the director was developing his 1988 shipwreck drama Set Free. big blueThe film is considered by many to be his international breakthrough. The company opted for its previous cinema debut, the French box office UndergroundThe film – later nominated for an Oscar – that revealed the director as a fast-rising star (the “Baby Scary” badge was already being abused) and a major figure in the new Cinema du. Look at the movement.

Besson initially focused on filming a second film, to be shot on the Greek island of Amorgos, and Gomont hired a team of creators to begin writing the script. the fifth Element. “We had a lot of people working on the writing,” said Ledu. But even once big blue (It screened at Cannes without competition) was over, and with many hands, including Besson, on board, the film still argued that there was something monstrous that was impossible in a single manageable feature.

“At one point we had two 300-page scripts,” says Ledu, who admits it was always going to be a “very, very ambitious project” (although he says Besson would likely go along with that, Gomon never intended the story in two). 120 pages was the ideal size, so there was still a lot of work to be done.

Besson was irritated to be behind the camera, and while his work developing magnesium work was still ongoing, he wrote and photographed two more live art paintings for Gaumont in the 1990s. The Nikme Nikita and 1994 Lion: Professional, which was produced by Ledu. He also spent time making a 1991 underwater documentary. atlantis.

But finally – the fifth Element Reduced to an acceptable size, Ledu agreed to a budget of around $90 million. “Which was absolutely crazy for a French company,” he admits.

Thus, the production company went hand in hand with the United States of Sony and Columbia Pictures, which photographed both big blue s LionAnd agreed to transfer $25 million to US rights. “But with $90 million plus $25 million, there’s still a lot to do,” he said. While there were some presales and other investments, Gomon, the then European record holder, paid for the rest.

While he says it was a “big risk,” it wasn’t his first risk with Besson. “We were sure that we would succeed.”

Ledu also points out that Besson was no longer a young budding filmmaker. big blueBut the responsible director LionWhich became a huge success and box office worldwide.

However, the Colombia deal was followed by conditions for the casting of none other than a Hollywood star of some caliber to play the lead role of a taxi driver, Corben Dallas, who became the savior of humanity.

“Luke’s original idea was Mel Gibson,” argues Ledu, adding that the actor used to visit Besson’s Los Angeles home, but Gibson turned it down. However, the main name that interested him was Sylvester Stallone, who, according to the producer, heard about the film and approached it independently. “It was really weird and Luke was upset because even though Stallone was a huge star at the time, he wasn’t the right guy for the movie.”

Over the past quarter century, several stories have emerged about how Bruce Willis finally came aboard. the fifth ElementBut in Ledu’s story, it was actually his then-wife Demi Moore who first told him the difficult Star in this crazy Besson project that became “very trendy” in LA thanks to her Lion s Nikita. The two met.

However, there was a problem: back then, thank you very much pulp Fiction s 12 monkeysWillis was one of the biggest stars on the planet, and despite his already huge budget, the producer couldn’t afford it. “I told him Bruce, we don’t have the money to pay you, it’s just impossible for us,” insists Ledu. But Willis was still interested, so he sent his agent to discuss how much Gomon could afford.

“It was really weird because one day Luke came to the hotel with a script that he gave Bruce and then he waited in the hallway until he finished reading it. Then he came back and Bruce finally said, “Yeah, I’m fine with that.”

When Willis was formally hired, the rest of the cast, including Mila Jovovich, Gary Oldman and Chris Tucker, were much more direct and required less intense negotiations, argues Ledu, adding that they were all chosen by Besson.

And while Willis may have cut his salary, Ledu says he was “very well taken care of”, paid with his family, coach, cook, secretary and two bodyguards in London, where he spent most of his 21 weeks. Filming took place (there was a short tour of Mauritania for scenes filmed in Egypt). Although Besson wanted to make a film in France, the country was inexperienced at the time when it came to filming major science fiction, so he had to turn to Pinewood, where production captured most of the studios, including the big ones. . Scenario 007, and where Ledu says nine sets were running at the same time.

When filming began in January 1996, Ledu handed the reins to veteran producer Ian Smith, whom he had hired since meeting him in Costa Rica, where he worked on the Ridley Scott drama Christopher Columbus. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Another Gomon title). “I came to oversee the production, he provided us with mint chicken and I thought if this guy could bring us mint chicken while we were filming this movie in central Costa Rica, he’s the right guy for us.”

But even though he was second on the job when Smith oversaw the Pinewood case, Ledu fully understood the scale of the project he illuminated. “Between filming, there were weeks where I applied for a daily salary of over 1,000 names,” he said, adding that the California visual effects campaign employed 400 people at a time. Climate. but he says that the fifth Element Never went over budget. “I put my reputation and position on it,” he said.

And Ledu still had one main trick – to get it the fifth Element On the skin like a crane curtain. As it turned out, despite the loud, colorful, tense sci-fi that didn’t feel like standard festival opening material, which was more art-focused, it turned out to be relatively straightforward.

First, the film’s French credentials: the fifth Element It is the biggest and boldest production by the most famous French studio in history. “Skin was very happy to show the world what we can do,” said Ledu. “But the second thing was I brought Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, and at the time at the Cannes Film Festival I said you could bring Bruce Willis and Demi Moore to the opening, let’s just say they were excited!”

It was no small fact that Gomon spent $1 million at the opening party.

But Ledu says there was a method of this remarkable madness that the skin can effectively serve. the fifth ElementCompressed international press tour. “We knew it would be impossible to take Bruce Willis around the world with the film, so we invited everyone who bought it to Cannes to spend a few days with him,” he said. “So the cost wasn’t that great if you think about it. Of course we spend a lot of money. But it was spectacular. And everyone who came said, “Yes!”