Four decades have passed since Luc Besson found fame as an emerging 26-year-old director with thriller Subway starring Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert. His feature credits since range from early stylized breakouts The Big Blue and Nikita; to sci-fi hits The Fifth Element and Lucy, and…

EXCLUSIVE: Fundamental Films chairman Mark Gao and his CEO Ivy Hua are in Cannes to reconnect with the international industry as part of the Shanghai-based company's return to international acquisitions and production.  One of the biggest and longest-established Chinese buyers before the…

EXCLUSIVE: Ketchup Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the action film Weekend in Taipei, produced by EuropaCorp’s Luc Besson and Virginie Besson-Silla, and starring Luke Evans (Murder Mystery), Gwei Lun-Mei (Black Coal, Thin Ice) and Sung Kang (Fast & Furious franchise). The…

Luc Besson, the award-winning writer, director and producer who founded Paris-based studio EuropaCorp in 1999, is returning as interim CEO after the company’s chief executive Axel Duroux resigned. Besson took over the top spot earlier this week, the company announced Thursday, saying that the…

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s new strand in which, each fortnight, we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to…

Tunisian-French film producer Tarak Ben Ammar has finalized a deal to purchase Studios de Paris, the production facility outside the French capital which recently housed the Netflix series Emily In Paris and Netflix's Murder Mystery 2, Deadline can confirm. Ben Ammar co-founded and part-owned the site since 2012…

UPDATE, 11:28 AM: Luc Besson looks to be one step closer to seeing the rape claims against him dismissed. The public prosecutor’s office in Paris has today requested  Judge Marie-Claire Noiriel to toss out the three-year old case against the Lucy director by actress Sand Van Roy “At the end of the judicial…

Media executive Axel Duroux has been named CEO at troubled French film giant EuropaCorp. He takes over the role from founder Luc Besson, who is moving upstairs to the newly-formed role of non-executive chairman. The company said going forward Besson would focus on his responsibilities as Artistic Director…

UPDATE: A EuropaCorp spokesperson has responded to Deadline’s request for comment following a Wednesday criminal court hearing during which a Paris prosecutor called for a 10-month suspended prison sentence for filmmaker Luc Besson, as well as various fines over the firing of a former assistant. The spokesperson…

UPDATED with EuropaCorp statement: Luc Besson’s embattled EuropaCorp has responded to a report in French weekly, Le Journal du Dimanche, which said on Sunday the studio was entering a deal that would see NY-based Vine Alternative Investments come to its rescue. In a statement provided to Deadline, Europa…

Luc Besson's EuropaCorp has posted unflattering results for the 2018-19 financial year, including a loss of $125M, which was a 27% increase year-on-year. The beleaguered French mini-studio was recently granted a six-month debt waiver from a French court to give it more time to balance its books. Talks are ongoing…

EXCLUSIVE: Ending a run as a top agent that spanned more than 30 years, Steve Rabineau is leaving WME. He will partner with Luc and Virginie Besson in the theatrical film and TV series business, under their EuropaCorp label. Besson has been a longtime client and friend of Rabineau, and the goal will be to…