Who lit a fire under Luc Besson all of a sudden? The French director was such a force back in the 90s with movies like The Professional and The Fifth Element, but he took a step back in recent years and into a supposed semi-retirement. Not that it ever slowed him down, as he's continued to write and produce numerous films(Taken, The Transporter), while still occasionally stepping behind the camera. Recently he's been on a tear, and while The Lady didn't get the Oscar love he hoped for, Besson has a handful of projects on the way, including one with Angelina Jolie that we haven't heard much about in months.
So about that Jolie project, we first learned about it last December, and at the time it was described as a big dramatic thriller with sci-fi elements. With Jolie's busy schedule and Besson suddenly getting off of his couch, a spring start date was considered extremely tentative. Now Variety reports that the untitled film is indeed happening, but it will shoot in early 2013, after she wraps up Maleficent and Besson clears his own calendar. In August he'll be directing the gangster action-comedy, Malavita, which stars Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and the newly added Tommy Lee Jones. Besson also is attached to co-write another action-comedy, Three Days to Kill, but that project is still in the very early stages.
As if he wasn't busy enough, Besson is adding one more. He'll write and direct an adaptation of the French sci-fi comic book series, Valerian. Created by Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières in 1967, the graphic novels are set in the 28th century and follow a human government agent named Valerian, who has grand adventures across space and time. He's joined by his female companion, Laureline, a peasant girl from 11th century France.Besson's directed three movies in the last five years, and it's good to see him really ramping up his output again. He's always been a favorite director of mine, and hopefully working with Jolie on a high profile film will get him back into the upper echelon where he belongs.
