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In a pairing that initially seems odd but eventually makes total sense, Variety reports that rapper, actor, and media personality Snoop Dogg will star in and co-produce director Luc Besson's upcoming film The Last Man. The new movie is said to be a comedic sci-fi adventure in the vein of The Fifth Element, Besson's 1997 blockbuster starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman. As of this writing, no other casting decisions have been made.

Besson and Snoop first collaborated on the 2006 live-action-animated hybrid film Arthur and the Invisibles, in which the latter voiced the character Max. According to Besson, the pair have been eager to team up on a new project ever since.

Related Luc Besson's 10 Best Movies, Ranked

From action to sci-fi to crime thrillers, these 10 movies offer a glimpse into what makes Besson's storytelling so entertaining and thought-provoking.

"I’ve been a big fan of Snoop Dogg...

Erik Per Sullivan played Dewey in Malcolm in the Middle, but the actor hasn't been seen on screen in a long time. 17 years after Malcolm in the Middle ended, its still hailed as one of the best sitcoms of all time. The series owes a big part of its success to the talented actors who play its delightfully dysfunctional family. Malcolm in the Middle made stars out of several of its cast members. However, Sullivan left the acting business shortly after leaving the role of Dewy in Malcolm in the Middle behind.

Dewey was the youngest child for much of the series and an important aspect of the strange household, along with brothers Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) and Reese (Justin Berfield) as well as parents Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston). Sullivan earned acclaim for his role as the eccentric youngest son and was nominated for two Young Artist Awards.

Few horror movies are as fantastic or as retroactively controversial as "Rosemary's Baby." Decades after its release, what are we to make of a movie about a woman's bodily agency that was made by a man –- Roman Polanski –- who was later convicted of statutory rape? It's just one of several tricky questions that's elicited by any thorough look back at the film; in addition to Polanski's life story, both of the movie's surviving cast members (see below) have been embroiled in their own complex and traumatic situations in the years since the film debuted in 1968.

It's a tricky legacy for a phenomenal movie that works on the strengths of all involved, including a powerful young Mia Farrow, who turns Polanski's already-sharp take on Ira Levin's great book into something unforgettable. Most of the other actors who made the film a classic are gone now, including John Cassavettes...

Jimmy Fallons career has been widely successful, but one of his first big movie roles, Taxi, was not well-received. Fallon received the breakthrough role of his career in 1998 when he started his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Fallon was 24 years old at the time, making a part on SNL critical to his rise in prominence as a comedian. He continued his work on Saturday Night Live for several years before ending his tenure in 2004.

During his time on Saturday Night Live, Fallon was known for his amusing roles as well as his tendency to break character. Fallon was seen laughing copious times during SNL sketches, a phenomenon that, while showing him failing to keep full composure in these comedy segments, also endeared audiences to him. After developing a fanbase on his Saturday Night Live days, Fallon transitioned into the film acting portion of his career. The result of this process,...

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A24’s acclaimed stop-motion/live-action hybrid “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” could be the wild card in the animated feature Oscar race — going up against such early favorites as Pixar’s “Turning Red,” Disney’s “Strange World,” and Netflix’s two stop-motion behemoths: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” and Henry Selick’s “Wendell & Wild” (the latter being the lone animated feature premiering at TIFF).

And why not? The feature debut from director Dean Fleischer Camp (adapting a series of shorts he created with “Marcel” star Jenny Slate), has been embraced by critics for its charm, wit, inventive stop-motion, and its adorable breakout star. The one-inch anthropomorphic shell (voiced by Slate) lives with his grandmother Connie (Isabella Rossellini) and develops a friendship with doc filmmaker Dean (Fleischer Camp), who moves in and films Marcel’s daily activities, which go viral. Marcel, who’s in search of his lost family,...

Kinology, Gregoire Melin’s indie sales outfit which has four films competing at Cannes, has boarded “Argonuts,” a Pixar/Dreamworks-style family animated feature made by Tat, the team behind “The Jungle Bunch.”

Budgeted north of 10 million euros ($12 million), “Argonuts” is set in a magical yet hostile world of Greek mythology and follows the action-packed journey of Pathie, a young super smart and adventurous mouse, and her mate Sam who set off to fight the most bizarre and dangerous creatures in Ancient Greece, including Poseidon himself.

The comedy adventure reunites “The Jungle Bunch” director, David Alaux, and producer, Jean-François Tosti at Tat Productions. It will be distributed by Apollo Films in France with an expected release in late 2022.

Based in France, Tat has become a key animation banner in the last 10 years with a track record in high-concept animated with a global appeal. “The Jungle Bunch” was one of the...

Exclusive: Freddie Highmore has inked with ICM Partners in all areas, Deadline has learned.

Across 71 episodes, Highmore has starred as Dr. Shaun Murphy in ABC’s hit series The Good Doctor, on which he also writes, directs and exec produces. In 2018, Highmore was nominated for Best Actor in the TV Drama Series category at the Golden Globes for his turn on The Good Doctor.

Highmore also portrayed the iconic Norman Bates in the Emmy-nominated A&e series, Bates Motel, on which he again wrote and directed episodes.

Highmore’s production company, Alfresco Pictures, currently has a deal at Sony. Alfresco Pictures develops scripted series for broadcast, cable, streaming services and international co-productions that includes Leonardo, a series about Italian master artist Leonardo da Vinci that Highmore also exec produces and stars in. Produced by Italy’s Lux Vide and Rai Fiction alongside Man in the High Castle outfit Big Light Productions,...

Madonna is set to direct her own biopic, Variety reports.

The popstar is also co-writing the film with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (Madonna has been posting photos and videos of their writing sessions on social media for the past few months). The as-yet-untitled film will be produced under the Universal Pictures umbrella, although neither a production timeline nor a cast has been announced.

In a statement, Madonna said: “I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer — a human being,...

As multiple production companies lay off crew, French animation studio TeamTO has announced two new hires, both central figures in the huge explosion of French animation over the last two decades, with Clélia Santi being appointed as head of production, and Judith Bruneau to the newly-created position of line producer and talent scout, TeamTO announced Tuesday, April 21.

The hires come as TeamTO production continues unabated on multiple series, even amid the Covid-19 crisis, as animation consolidates as one sector that may under exceptional circumstances meet some or all of the sanitary challenges posed by coronavirus.

Starting off as an OnEntertainment production manager on “The Little Prince” and head of production on “Peter Pan,” then working as production manager on Luc Besson’s TV series spinoff “Arthur and the Minimoys,” then at Xilam on its first first 3D project, “Oggy Oggy,” Santi will oversee day-to-day activities on TeamTO’s current development/production slate.

Gregoire Melin’s Paris-based Kinology is attending the Afm with an eclectic slate of ambitious films from emerging as well as seasoned French directors, including the science fiction adventure movie “The Last Journey of Paul W. R.,” and “How I Became a Super Hero,” France’s first superhero thriller.

Directed by Romain Quirot, “The Last Journey of Paul W.R.” expands on the critically acclaimed 2015 short film by the same name that won an award at the Berlin Short Film Festival, and played at Tribeca, among other festivals. It was also a top 50 finalist for the 2017 Oscar Shorts

The dystopian film is set in 2050, at a time when temperatures have reached unbearable heights, most wildlife species have gone extinct and hundreds of millions of people have become climate refugees. Only one man can save the world, it’s Paul Wr, the most talented astronaut of its generation.

Currently in production,...

City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, announced today that entertainment icon Snoop Dogg will receive the Sony Atv Music Publishing “Social Leadership” Award at its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Group’s 15th Annual Songs of Hope.

The award will be presented by Sony Atv chairman and CEO, and 2018 Spirit of Life honoree, Jon Platt. As previously announced, producer Boi-1da and songwriter Diane Warren will receive the Clive Davis “Legend in Songwriting” Award presented by Clive Davis, composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman will receive the EA Music “Composer of the Year” Award, and songwriter and recording artist Tierra Whack will receive the Universal Music Publishing Group “She Is The Music” Award presented by Universal Music Publishing’s chairman and CEO Jody Gerson. Facebook will present the “Facebook Songwriter Impact” Award to Hayley Kiyoko, The Dream will receive the Warner Chappell Music...

Before Monster House had there been a mainstream animated film that strayed so far from the tropes of the genre? I am sure one could cite The Nightmare Before Christmas but even that film eventually plays nice with what audiences expect from animated films. No, it was 2006's Monster House that, on the heels of The Incredibles two years before it, pushed the genre of animation in a bold new direction. The look, the story, the pacing, and the overall mood of Monster House was both old, new and completely unlike anything done in the medium of animation before. In short, Monster House is responsible for opening up the genre, it paved the way for more daring films in the medium, it's set-up was very much like a independent horror film, and it, surprisingly, never had a sequel.

Monster House, like most horror that is geared for younger people, features...

Mediawan says it also plans to acquire 60% stake in Mon Voison Productions.

Luc Besson

Burgeoning audiovisual content platform Mediawan has acquired three French production companies including Storia Television, the new outfit created to take over the activities of EuropaCorp TV excluding its Us series.

The Paris-based company – founded by French producer Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom tycoon Xavier Nils and investment banker and venture capitalist Mathieu Pigasse in 2015 – announced the deal on Monday afternoon (January 15).

The platform also revealed it was in exclusive negotiations to buy a majority stake in Makever, an umbrella group comprising six independent production studios.

Their shows include Kaboul Kitchen; the International Emmy Award-winning telefilm Don’t Leave Me, about a mother’s struggle to de-radicalise her jihadi bride daughter; and Captain Sharif.

Mediawan said it was also planning to acquire a 60% stake in Mon Voison Productions (Mvp). The production house set up by former talent agent-turned-producer and actor Dominique Besnehard and producer Michel Feller is best known...

Luc Besson‘s filmography is fairly impressive for a director that’s never really received support from critics. He directed “Nikita,” “Leon,” and “The Fifth Element” back to back to back from 1990-1997. Fine. Those three films alone have allowed him enough creative freedom to direct whatever he’s wanted to since. The problem is the ensuing films weren’t very good (“The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc,” “Angel-a,” “Arthur and the Invisibles,” “The Family“).

Continue reading Luc Besson Hates On Superhero Movies & Calls ‘Captain America’ “Propaganda” at The Playlist.

Netflix may have cancelled the Wachowski’s cult hit “Sense 8,” but its adding two of their defining works to its streaming library next month. All three entries in “The Matrix” trilogy are heading to Netflix, as is the ambitious “Cloud Atlas,” which means you’ll be able to bring summer to an end by bingeing mind-melting science fiction.

Read More: Netflix Is Not the Problem: Why Bad Theatrical Presentations Are Destroying the Experience

Other titles joining the streaming service include underrated gems from Quentin Tarantino and Michael Haneke, plus two of the year’s most exciting documentary films. Check out a complete list of all the new movies joining Netflix in August 2017 below, including our 7 must-binge choices.

“The Matrix” Trilogy (August 1)

August kicks off with “The Matrix,” “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” all becoming available to stream on Netflix. Say what you want about the two sequels, but...

Too Hollywood for art houses and too art house for Hollywood, iconoclastic French filmmaker Luc Besson has always had to blaze his own trail. Unwilling — or unable — to compromise from the very start (his debut feature was a dialogue-free post-apocalyptic drama about a waterless future where it occasionally rains fish), Besson continues to offset his pigheadedness with his passion. He eventually got so sick of looking for support that he launched his own production company, EuropaCorp, which has become one of the most profitable in all of Europe by churning out the kind of carnivalesque shlock that made its founder so famous in the first place. Besson may not have directed the likes of “Taken,” “Lock-Out,” and “Colombiana,” but his fingerprints are all over them.

Read More Review: ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ Is Like ‘Star Wars’ on Crystal Meth, and It’s Almost Crazy Enough to...

Confession: There are times when I've been loyally in Luc Besson's corner – the visual splendor of Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988) and La Femme Nikita (1990) established him as a master of what the French call Cinéma du Look. And 1994's The Professional – with Jean Reno teaching the assassin's game to a very young Natalie Portman – went deeper, blending style with a nurturing sense of humanity. Plus, there's a lot to be said in favor of both his sci-fi extravaganza The Fifth Element (1997) and last year's next-level ScarJo-evolution whatsit Lucy.

Luc Besson's career is basically the definition of "hit-or-miss," with huge successes like The Fifth Element and Lucy on one hand, and forgettable fare like The Family and Arthur and the Invisibles on the other (and if we were to delve into his producing credits, we'd be here all day). But I'm cautiously optimistic about Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, his ambitious new sci-fi film starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as special peace operatives who travel through the universe. The visuals we've seen have been intriguing, the footage that played at San Diego Comic-Con won over the Hall H crowd, and it has a supporting cast that includes Clive Owen, Rihanna, John Goodman, Rutger Hauer, and Ethan Hawke. What's not to like?

Ahead of its panel presentation at New York Comic Con this weekend, the film has released its first poster and a few more...

Tom Hardy is fab, but this is GoodFellas-lite, depicting violent sociopaths as glamorous, even amusing, and lacking all understanding of what made them tick. I’m “biast” (pro): love Tom Hardy

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Tom Hardy is Ronnie Kray. And Tom Hardy is Reggie Kray. And Tom Hardy (London Road, Mad Max: Fury Road) is the best — and pretty much the only — reason to check out this rather shockingly laudatory crime thriller based on the life and, er work of two of the most notorious gangsters London has ever borne witness to. As both of the identical Kray twins, Hardy is a wonder, carrying his body, comporting his face, and subtly shifting his voice in ways that never leave the viewer in any doubt as to which brother he is...

Luc Besson is next to direct Valerian, starring Dane DeHaan. And he's preparing for the toughest job of his career so far...

Last year, Luc Besson steered the sci-fi movie Lucy to box office gold, marking his latest foray into a genre that he's served really rather well over the course of his career. Whether writing, producing or directing, Besson's pawprints have been on projects such as The Fifth Element, Lockout and Arthur And The Invisibles. His next film as director, however, he's already calling the "biggest challenge of my career".

The film in question is Valerian, based on the French science fiction comics series by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres. Set for release in the summer of 2017, the film is set to star Dane DeHaan as a time travel agents, trying to maintain law and order in the 28th century. Cara Delevingne, currently shooting Suicide Squad, is set to co-star.

Now that's how you join Twitter. Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element" is one of those movies that seems to have grown over the years since it was first released, and I am pleased to see how often it's mentioned these days or referenced in some way. It has been confounding to see Besson's directing career over the eighteen years since it came out, though, because he hasn't even come close to making a film in the same genre. There was a point where he claimed he was completely retired, and he's made movies like "Arthur And The Invisibles" and "Lucy" instead of making the "Fifth Element" sequel "Mr. Shadow" or something else that might scratch that same itch. When I moderated the Universal panel for "Lucy" at WonderCon in the spring of 2014, I got some time to talk to Besson about his work in general, and we talked about...

Within the next two weeks Pixar will officially debut its latest animated feature, "Inside Out," at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It's the Disney division's first new movie since "Monster's University" which hit theaters almost two years ago. Pixar will make up for the long absence by also releasing a second picture, "The Good Dinosaur," in November. While Pixar steps back into the spotlight its sister division, Walt Disney Animation Studios, is taking 2015 off after an incredible run of back to back animated Oscar winners, "Frozen" and "Big Hero 6." Walt Disney Animation Studio's next film is "Zootopia" which doesn't hit theaters until March, 2016. Today, they finally revealed who will be voicing the move's main characters. According to Disney, "Zootopia" is set in a "modern mammal Metropolis" (sounds like an animal version of "Monster's Inc.") and will keep it in the corporate family with "Once Upon A Time's" Ginnifer Goodwin voicing bunny Judy Hopps,...

Lucy, from writer and director Luc Besson, stars Scarlett Johansson as the titular character who develops superhuman capabilities.

As a result of her new mental and physical talents – bestowed upon her by drugs that exploded inside her stomach – she becomes a commodity to the police force. With her skills, they hope to find the other drug mules and drug kingpin Mr. Jang (Min-sik Choi). Lucy’s talents amaze brain expert Professor Samuel Norman (Morgan Freeman), who tries to help her control her unheard of capabilities and remain in control of her life.

'Lucy' Reviews

Critics are split on what to make of the latest female-driven action film by Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Professional, The Fifth Element). On the one hand, there’s something to be said for Besson’s determination to push further and harder in new and insane directions in Lucy. Yet, on the other hand,...

Over the course of his dozen-plus films as a writer-director, Parisian auteur Luc Besson has become known for his stylish inversions of schlock genre fare and a certain, shall we call it, Vive la femme attitude toward women.

Time and again, his movies place emotionally fragile female characters in physically perilous situations: a conflicted hit-woman struggling with the perils of her job in 1990’s La Femme Nikita, 12-year old Natalie Portman on the run as an assassin-in-training in The Professional, and Milla Jovovich’s universe-saving alien Leeloo in The Fifth Element (1997) among them. Besson’s latest multiplex offering appears set to follow that template.

Anyone holding out hope for French director Luc Besson to return to his heyday of "La Femme Nikita" and "The Professional" is in for a letdown with the wan action-comedy of "The Family." Besson's first wide release in the Us in seven years (since the woeful kid pic "Arthur and the Invisibles," which also followed the disastrous "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" by seven years) wasn't worth the wait. Gimmicky casting of Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones gives Besson's latest some punch but the film ultimately collapses into a forgettable mess that does no...

If we’re honest, it’s been a while since Luc Besson has directed any sort of high profile film. Sure, he’s written and produced 5 out of every 10 interesting action films in the last ten years, including the Transporter, Taken and District B13 franchises. But what has he actually directed? The third movie in the Arthur and the Invisibles franchise? I didn’t know there was a second one. The Lady starring Michelle Yeoh. He won an International Human Rights Award from the Cinema for Peace Awards for that one. It’s not exactly The Professional: Part Deux. All of this makes his latest film, The Family, much more interesting. He’s written and directed a mob action movie starring Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer. Hell. Yes. The only odd part: it’s being billed as a comedy. See for yourself with the first trailer below: For further explanation, I...

Perfectly serviceable though it is, this animated woodland saga feels cobbled together from many sources

That title is inviting the addition of the word "fail", but actually this is perfectly serviceable family animation. Even so, "generic" might have been a better description. Its woodland saga feels cobbled together from a dozen other sources, including FernGully, A Bug's Life, Arthur and the Invisibles, The Borrowers, Roger Dean, even Fifi and the Flowertots. Our heroine is a lonely human teen (Amanda Seyfried), who's shrunk to fairy size to aid magical forest dwellers in their battle against decay-spreading baddies. (The motivation for the decay-spreading is unclear – they're just baddies.) Boxes are studiously ticked. There's a mini-teen hunk for Seyfried to flirt with, comedy gastropod sidekicks, parenting issues, eco sentiments, bird-back aerial action and random celebrity voice cameos, including Beyoncé, Steven Tyler and Pitbull. What stands out is the animation. The microcosmic woodland world is luminous and detailed,...

Jason Bateman is joining forces with Walt Disney Animation on a secretive, untitled comedy. No story details were released, but the project is said to be an, "animal comedy."

Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) is directing, although it is not known who is working on the screenplay or who will produce. Before making his directorial debut in 2008 with Bolt, Byron Howard worked in the animation department on such Disney animated movies as Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear.

It isn't known when production will begin, or when Disney is targeting the comedy for release.

This project marks Jason Bateman's second time providing his voice for an animated feature, after his role in the English version of Luc Besson's 2006 adventure Arthur and the Invisibles.

Jason Bateman is set to lead the voice cast of a mysterious new Walt Disney Animation project, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter . Specifics are few, but the trade claims that it will be an animal comedy and will be directed by Tangled 's Byron Howard. Bateman, who this year has already starred in Identity Thief and Disconnect , will next reprise his role as Michael Bluth for Netflix's new "Arrested Development" season. He has previously supplied big screen voice work for the English-language version of Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles . Tangled (co-directed by Nathan Greno) was a surprise hit for the studio, raking in more than $590 million worldwide. The studio's next animated feature, Frozen , features the voice talents of Kristen Bell, Idina...

Variety is reporting that Luc Besson (who has written action films such as Taken, Columbiana and Lockout, as well as directing Arthur And The Invisibles among other movies) is set to both write and direct an English language adaptation of Valerian, a French science fiction comic book series created in 1967 by Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres (who was a conceptual designer on Besson's The Fifth Element). The news was confirmed by EuropaCorp CEO Christophe Lambert on Friday. The comic series, also known as Valerian And Laureline, has previously inspired an animated TV series (which was released in 2007). Below are some plot details for the series (via Wikipedia): The series focuses on the adventures of the dark-haired Valérian, a spatio-temporal agent, and his redheaded female companion, Laureline, as they travel the universe through space and time. Valérian is a classical anti-hero, kind-hearted, strong and brave but with a tendency...

Having already booked Kristen Chenoweth for a recurring role on The Good Wife next year, the show has now added Nathan Lane in an unspecified recurring role as well.

The "missing" episode of Happy Endings, with Max playing the Walter Matthau character in a Bad News Bears themed episode will see the light of day at Outfest in Los Angeles. No word on when those of us elsewhere in the world will get to see it.

In sad news, Nora Ephron has passed away at the age of 71. It wasn't until later in adulthood I connected Ephron to some of the most iconic films of my youth, but the world is a poorer place with her no longer in it.

Buzzfeed had a list of famous people who have done amazing things in real life, and one of those is Sir Ian McKellen, who in 1988 was asked by Michael Howard,...

A Monster In Paris

Stars (the voices of): Vanessa Paradis, Jay Harrington, Adam Goldberg, Bob Balaban, Matthew Géczy, Danny Huston, Sean Lennon | Written by Bibo Bergeron, Stéphane Kazandjian | Directed by Bibo Bergeron

Produced by Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp (Arthur And The Invisibles) and directed by Bibo Bergeron (Shark Tale, The Road To El Dorado), A Monster in Paris is a gorgeous-looking CG-animated take on the classic tales of Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame, only with a genetically-engineered (think a quasi-Frankenstein’s monster) singing giant flea as its protagonist!

A wacky inventor, his camera-crazy best friend and a madcap monkey make a massive mistake when let loose in a mad scientist’s laboratory. With lotions and potions spilling everywhere, the troublesome trio accidentally creates Franc, the product of a reaction between a common flea and one of the scientist’s mystery concoctions. What they fail to realise,...

Madonna Singer, songwriter, actress, director, producer, screenwriter, provocatrice, and all-around showwoman Madonna displays her Golden Globe for Best Original Song – Motion Picture for "Masterpiece," featured in the Madonna-directed W.E. In the above photo, Madonna is seen backstage in the press room at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA, on Sunday, January 15, 2012. "Masterpiece" has music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, and Jimmy Harry. Throughout the Golden Globes ceremony, The Weinstein Company's big boss Harvey Weinstein got more closeups than Madonna, Elton John, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, host Ricky Gervais, and just about every other celebrity in attendance combined. The Weinstein Company's movies won a series of top awards: In addition to the Best Original Song for Madonna's E.W. ditty "Masterpiece," there were the following TWC winners: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy...

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Many film buffs would argue that Luc Besson hasn’t directed a truly diverting film since his dippy 1997 sci-fi curio The Fifth Element, instead fashioning himself recently as a jack-of-all-trades, directing animation (Arthur and the Invisibles) and fanciful adventure (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec), as well as producing countless mindlessly entertaining action films, such as The Transporter, District B13 and Taken. Besson, apparently ever keen to stretch himself, tackles a straight-faced drama this time with The Lady, and the extravagant director has never seemed more out of his depth.

Besson’s film attempts to summarise the attempts of one woman, Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) to bring democracy to Burma, which is captivated by an oppressive and violent military regime. From her early beginnings as the lowly daughter of the revolutionary Aung San, Kyi leaves to England where she finds a loving husband, Michael...

In 2004, Freddie Highmore landed a role that child stars the World over could only dream of; the role of 'Charlie Bucket' in 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. While a competent actor thus far, it was Freddie's endearing rendition of Charlie that earned him Worldwide recognition, gaining the respect of his peers, the audience and the plaudits in the process.

Since then, the talented actor has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, in front of - and behind - the camera, and continues to please audiences with his heart-warming, authentic performances. In the run up to his latest release, The Art of Getting By, Freddie sat down with Shadowlocked and spoke openly about his career to date...

1. Freddie [Highmore], you’ve made a brilliant transition from child prodigy to adolescent actor. How have you found the transition?

It's odd really; it seems to have come very natural to me.

After spending the last five years directing a trilogy of animated films based on the Arthur et les Minimoys books and a serious political drama with The Lady, French director Luc Besson is finally returning to the genre that we've all been hoping for: science-fiction. Okay, so he's not directing this one himself, but it's still hard not to be at least a little bit excited by the prospect. The last time he worked with this kind of material himself was in 1997 with The Fifth Element, a movie that a lot of people still seem to love. This time he has co-written a screenplay about a convict who "is offered his freedom if he can rescue the president's daughter from an outer space prison taken over by violent inmates." Yes, the plot synopsis sounds a little bit like John Carpenter's long-rumoured Escape from New York sequel, Escape from Earth,...

French director Luc Besson is best known for frenetic action films like his La Femme Nikita and Taken, which he wrote. His latest effort, a devoted biopic of the heroic Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi starring Michelle Yeoh, switches gears entirely. Critics were downright chilly when The Lady premiered in Toronto on Monday night, but less than 48 hours later, the film secured U.S. distribution via the Cohen Media Group (Chasing Madoff). The company intends to give the film a limited Oscar-qualifying release in December before a wider run early in 2012.

The daughter of a patriotic hero and the...

"He's not a monster!" This isn't directed by Luc Besson, but it is produced by him. A new English-language trailer has debuted recently via Tiff's YouTube for A Monster in Paris, a 3D animated adventure about a monster who lives in a garden in Paris and his love for a beautiful, young singer. The English voice cast includes Vanessa Paradis, Catherine O'Hara, Danny Huston, Adam Goldberg and Bob Balaban. This actually looks quite fun, it reminds me of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs in a way. I don't like re-dubbing with English actors either, but it doesn't look as bad as Arthur and the Invisibles. Check out this trailer below! Watch the official English-language trailer for Bibo Bergeron's A Monster in Paris, via YouTube: Paris, 1910: having unintentionally unleashed a monster from an eccentric scientist’s greenhouse, Emile the projectionist, Raoul the inventor and Lucille, an enchanting cabaret singer,...

How much more awesome would your life be if you had a French accent? Everything you'd say would have an air of sophistication and worldliness - even if you were talking about a trashy B movie. In fact, even more so when you were talking about a trashy B movie.

Luc Besson, the wildly prolific director behind The Fifth Element, The Professional and the Arthur and the Invisibles films is also responsible for shepherding pictures like Taken and From Paris With Love. His newest, Colombiana, is a revenge movie set among the world of contract killers and drug cartels - but if you thought of it as Taken with hot girl instead of Liam Neeson, yeah, that kinda works, too.

I had the good fortune to speak with Mr. Besson on the phone directly after a screening of Colombiana in New York. Here's what went down.

Jordan Hoffman: When...

More details have emerged regarding the upcoming "Transporter" TV series, based on Luc Besson's EurpoCorp property, with HBO Canada, The Movie Network and Movie Central signing on, joining France's M6 and Germany's Rtl Group as co-producers.

Klaus Zimmermann of France's Atlantique Productions will oversee the $43 million, 12-episode series, with Andy Mikita ("Stargate") directing, for executive producers Besson, Alexander Ruemelin, Fred Fuchs, Robert Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.

The series will start in Europe this June, before shooting in Toronto July 4 to November 21, for producer Sue Murdoch and Driver For Hire (Qvs) Inc.

The series will follow driver 'Frank Martin', played by Chris Vance ("Prison Break") who will 'transport' anything a client wishes, with no questions asked.

Actress Andrea Osvárt ("The Swing Girls") will play Frank's handler 'Carla', a former CIA operative who organizes his missions.

France-based Lagardere Entertainment will also participate in financing the series.

EuropaCorp...

A new "Transporter" TV series, based on producer/director Luc Besson's 2002 EuropaCorp feature film property "The Transporter", starts shooting in Toronto, July 4, 2011, wrapping November 21, produced by Sue Murdoch for Driver For Hire (Qvs) Inc.

The $48 million, 12-episode Cinemax TV series will follow driver 'Frank Martin', played by Chris Vance ("Burn Notice") who will 'transport' anything a client wishes, with no questions asked.

Actress Andrea Osvart ("The Swing Girls") will play Frank's handler 'Carla', a former CIA operative who organizes his missions.

France-based Lagardere Entertainment will finance the series.

EuropaCorp previously adapted their "Nikita" franchise into 2 Toronto-lensed TV series, with development currently underway on a "Taken" and "Arthur and The Invisibles" TV series, both spinning off from EuropaCorp feature films.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Transporter"...

Beginning life in 2007 with Arthur and the Invisibles (which at that time, was the most expensive French production in history), the third entry in this children’s animated series (co-created and directed by Luc Besson) comes to DVD. A mixture of live-action and computer animation, this is the tale of a young boy called Arthur (Freddie Highmore) who yet again finds himself teaming up with his mystical friends, The Minimoys. They are little elf-like creatures who live in the woods, and this time around, the two worlds collide as villain Maltazard escapes from his miniature surroundings with a potion which enables him to grow to human size. Arthur calls on the help of his friends Replay and Snow and they too, venture to the outside world in an attempt to stop Maltazard.

With elements of The Borrowers and A Bug’s Life, Arthur and the Great Adventure (which is also,...

Luc Besson can really be an excellent film-maker, but he has a tendency to lose himself in his own flamboyant sense of style. In his best work (which consensus would hopefully dictate to be Leon-The Professional), he has the good sense to ground the action between a well-connected set of characters, before going off and nearly incinerating his sets and actors with his ridiculous choreography. More often, though, his audiences can all but hear him telling his actors to get out of the way so that can frame his shot in a visually appealing but logically improbable way. Enter his visualization of the Arthur and the Minimoys series (or Arthur and the Invisibles in the United States), the director’s first franchise as well as his first attempt to engage an audience too young to get in to see most of his other work. As they tend to,...

To celebrate the release of Luc Besson’s latest movie, Arthur and the Great Adventure on DVD & Blu-ray 2nd May, Entertainment in Video have been kind enough to give us five copies of the movie to give away on Blu-ray.

Acclaimed and visionary director Luc Besson, in the follow up to Arthur and the Invisibles, brings us this brilliant, live action, computer animated, family adventure, starring

Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow and Selena Gomez with Snoop Dogg, Will.i.am, Fergie (Black Eyed Peas), Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.

When Arthur uncovers a distress call sent from Minimoys, the invisible people who live in his own back yard, he knows that once again, he must embark on a great adventure to battle against the evil Maltazard and save Princess Selenia. Little does he know that this is an evil trick by his arch nemesis to reverse the magic of transformation to become a...

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

(Rob’s Cambridge review re-posted as the film is released in the U.K. today)

Luc Besson’s return to live action, following the dire 2006 animation Arthur and the Invisibles, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is an adaptation of an unusual Frenco-Belgian comic book series which follows a cynical, early twentieth century investigative journalist, whose globe-trotting adventures frequently involve fantastical and mystical goings on.

The plot of this film concerns an expedition to Egypt undertaken in order to revive an ancient mummy, a Pharaoh’s doctor, in the belief that he can cure Adèle’s brain damaged twin sister. However, not only does this bring Adèle into conflict with those who would rather claim the treasures for themselves, but there is also a more pressing problem back home. The scientist Adèle is relying upon to revive the mummy has been placed on death row after...

In his homeland France, Luc Besson is regarded as a maker of mass market films. So what, he says, even Jean-Luc Godard is really a commercial director

In 2006, France's most commercially successful film-maker announced he had made his last movie. For more than a decade, Luc Besson had been saying he would only direct 10 films in his life, and he had reached his quota. Admittedly, Arthur and the Invisibles, a semi-animated children's adventure, was a bit of a whimper to go out on after hits such as The Big Blue, Léon and The Fifth Element, but, as Besson told the Guardian at the time: "I would rather stop too soon than too late." It was, it seems, too soon. Even if you count his two Arthur sequels as 10-and-a-half, Besson has gone way over quota, and is now back in town with not one but two brand new features.

"When I said it,...

DVD Playhouse—April 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood’s spiritual thriller follows a trio of characters whose seemingly disparate paths converge: Matt Damon as a blue collar Joe who tries to fight against his psychic powers that see “the other side,” Cecile de France as a journalist who somehow survives the tsunami that crushed Indonesia, and a London schoolboy (Frankie and George McLaren) who seeks answers after losing his twin brother. Like all of Eastwood’s films, the narrative construction is tight as a drum, with solid work by all involved. That said, “solid” would have to be the operative word to describe the proceedings here, as well as “unremarkable” and “uninvolving” on an emotional level. Perhaps we expect too much when we see Clint’s name on a film these days, but that’s the flip side of being one of the best. Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.

DVD Playhouse—April 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood’s spiritual thriller follows a trio of characters whose seemingly disparate paths converge: Matt Damon as a blue collar Joe who tries to fight against his psychic powers that see “the other side,” Cecile de France as a journalist who somehow survives the tsunami that crushed Indonesia, and a London schoolboy (Frankie and George McLaren) who seeks answers after losing his twin brother. Like all of Eastwood’s films, the narrative construction is tight as a drum, with solid work by all involved. That said, “solid” would have to be the operative word to describe the proceedings here, as well as “unremarkable” and “uninvolving” on an emotional level. Perhaps we expect too much when we see Clint’s name on a film these days, but that’s the flip side of being one of the best. Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.

For most Americans, Luc Besson isn't a household name, but for film geeks he's the director and mastermind behind films like Leon and The Fifth Element. His track record isn't one of box office conquering billions, but he has a pretty loyal following. Unfortunately, most of his following isn't of the age that has kids yet. Combine that with the bungling of the stateside marketing campaign for Arthur and the Invisibles and it's easy to understand how the $86 million dollar film barely made $15 million dollars here in the Us. The film did pretty well elsewhere, and thus the two sequels were made - and now you have a chance to win them on DVD, just keep reading. We've got three copies to give away.

Arthur & The Invisibles 2&3: The New Minimoy Adventures revolves around our hero Arthur (Freddie Highmore) and two new adventures in the magical land of the Minimoys.

2011 marks the tenth year the Oscars have singled out animated films for their own Best Animated Feature Oscar and I started looking over the list of nominees and began to wonder how they might match up with public opinion.

In ten years 34 films have been nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, eight of those nominees have been Pixar films, five of which went on to win with Cars and Monsters, Inc. serving as the two that didn't end up taking home the gold. So Pixar has obviously been crowned king by the Academy, and this year I think we're all expecting Toy Story 3 to make it six wins for the animated studio. Does this mean the top eight animated films over the past ten years were produced by Pixar?

Of course, this isn't an exact science. Looking at only the Academy's animated nominees means several films aren't even...