What is Luc Besson's Net Worth and Salary?
Luc Besson is a highly acclaimed French film director, producer, and screenwriter with a net worth of $100 million. Renowned for his screenplay writing and production work, Besson has received numerous awards and nominations. He is best known for directing and producing iconic films like The Fifth Element, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita, Subway, The Professional, Lucy, and the Taken franchise.
Early Life
Luc Besson was born on March 18, 1959, in Paris, France. His parents, both scuba-diving instructors, worked at popular Club Med resorts, inspiring Besson to initially aspire to become a marine biologist. Growing up, he traveled extensively to places like Greece, Italy, and Yugoslavia. At the age of ten, Besson moved back to France, and shortly thereafter, his parents divorced and remarried, causing Besson to feel somewhat displaced in his new family dynamics.
A significant turning point in Besson's life occurred at 17 when a scuba diving accident ended his marine biology dreams. This incident led him to explore his passion for writing and photography, eventually steering him towards filmmaking.
Career
Besson's career in film began during his teenage years with the creation of short films and drafting future movie scripts like The Big Blue and The Fifth Element. At 18, he moved back to Paris, taking on various odd jobs in the film industry and serving as an assistant to directors such as Claude Faraldo and Patrick Grandperret. He produced short films, commercials, and a documentary, marking his initial footprint in the industry.
With earnings from his early work, Besson moved to the United States for three years before returning to Paris to start his own production company, Les Films du Dauphin. His early success came with films like Subway (1985), followed by The Big Blue (1988), both of which garnered significant acclaim. Besson’s Leon: The Professional (1994) and The Fifth Element (1997) achieved cult status. The Fifth Element starred big names such as Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Tommy Lister, and Gary Oldman.
Besson has been a prominent figure in the 'cinema du look' movement, known for its visually striking style over substance. Films like Subway and La Femme Nikita are key examples of this trend.
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From the late 1990s and into the 2000s, Besson directed action-packed films such as the Taxi and The Transporter series. He collaborated with Jet Li on movies like Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed. His Taken series starring Liam Neeson was especially successful, with Taken 2 emerging as the highest-grossing French export film.
Besson also ventured into literature, creating the Arthur series of children’s fantasy novels, which gained popularity in the U.S., U.K., and France. He adapted these books into feature films and video games.
Besson’s work has been recognized at numerous film festivals and award shows. His accolades include the Brussels International Festival of Film Critics Prize, a Cesar Award, and the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Award for Best Director of a Foreign Film. He is considered one of the 'most Hollywood' of French filmmakers, with over 50 films under his belt as a writer, director, and producer.
Personal Life
Besson's personal life has seen various marriages and relationships. He married actress Anne Parillaud in 1986, and they had a daughter, Juliette, before divorcing in 1991. He then married Maiwenn Le Besco, who inspired his film Leon, and they had a daughter, Shanna, but divorced in 1997. His third marriage was to actress Milla Jovovich in 1997, which ended in 1999. In 2004, he married film producer Virginie Silla, with whom he has three children: Thalia, Sateen, and Mao.
Besson faced controversy when several actresses accused him of rape starting in 2018. Although the case was dropped in 2019 due to lack of evidence, it was reopened and then dismissed again in 2021.
Real Estate
In January 2016, Besson purchased Charlton Heston's estate in Beverly Hills for $12.2 million. He undertook major renovations on the 14,600-square-foot mansion, which sits on nearly 3 acres, and listed it for sale in February 2020 for $14.9 million.
