Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds

Last updated
Arthur 3:
The War of the Two Worlds
Arthur 3 The War of the Two Worlds.jpg
Theatrical release poster
French Arthur 3 : La Guerre des deux mondes
Directed by Luc Besson
Written byLuc Besson
Céline Garcia
Based on Arthur and the War of Two Worlds
by Luc Besson
Produced byLuc Besson
Stéphane Lecomte
Emmanuel Prévost
Starring
Cinematography Thierry Arbogast
Music by Éric Serra
Production
companies
Distributed byEuropaCorp
Release date
  • 13 October 2010 (2010-10-13)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageEnglish
Budget 65 million [1]
(US$85 million)
Box office$30.7 million [2]

Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds (French: Arthur 3: La Guerre des deux mondes) is a 2010 English-language French fantasy animated/live-action film directed and co-written by Luc Besson, based on the fourth book of the Arthur children's books series by Besson. It is the sequel to Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard (2009) and the third installment in the Arthur film series. The film was shot back-to-back with the previous installment.

Contents

Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds was released theatrically in France on 13 October 2010 by EuropaCorp. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office success in France. However, following its two predecessor's under-performance at the box-office internationally, the film generated huge losses for EuropaCorp. [3] It was released as a direct-to-video in the United States by 20th Century Home Entertainment, while in the United Kingdom and Ireland, it was edited as one film with the second film under the title Arthur and the Great Adventure. The film marked Lou Reed's last acting role before his death in 2013.

It is the last installment in the main series. A spin-off, Arthur, malédiction , was released in France in 2022.

Plot

Picking up after the second film, Maltazard has assumed human size, and left Arthur in miniature. Accompanied by Princess Selenia and her brother, Prince Betameche, Arthur attempts to retrieve an enlarging potion from his house, which Maltazard seizes to enlarge his followers, whereafter Arthur returns to human form using an Elixir of Life given by a queen bee. Archibald convinces Darkos, Maltazard's son, to change sides, and enlarges him with a second potion. Arthur and Darkos then confront Maltazard, until Selenia and Betameche shrink Maltazard back to his Minimoy size and Arthur captures him, while the U.S. Army overcome Maltazard's forces. Maltazard thereafter remains a prisoner of Arthur's family.

Cast

Live-action cast
Voice cast

Production

The budget of the film is 68.83 million euros, which makes it at that time the 3rd most expensive French film in history, just ahead of the previous film in the saga. [5]

The film was shot in Normandy, simultaneously with the previous film. [5]

Reception

In France, the film received a mixed to favourable reception, it obtained an average rating of 2,95 on the Allociné site, which lists twelve press titles. [6]

On the American website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 5 critics. [7]

David Nusiar of Reelfilm.com called the film "a mild improvement over its two predecessors" and gave it a score of 2 out of 5. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Léon: The Professional</i> 1994 film by Luc Besson

Léon: The Professional is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno and Gary Oldman, and features the film debut of Natalie Portman. The plot centers on Léon (Reno), a professional hitman who reluctantly takes in twelve-year-old Mathilda Lando (Portman) after her family are murdered by corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent Norman Stansfield (Oldman). Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade. The film was released in France by Gaumont and internationally through Gaumont Buena Vista International on 14 September 1994, and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luc Besson</span> French filmmaker

Luc Paul Maurice Besson is a French filmmaker. He directed or produced the films Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990). Associated with the Cinéma du look film movement, he has been nominated for a César Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his films Léon: The Professional (1994) and the English-language The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). He won Best Director and Best French Director for his sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997). He wrote and directed the 2014 sci-fi action film Lucy and the 2017 space opera film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Éric Serra</span> French film composer

Éric Serra is a French composer. He is a frequent collaborator of film director Luc Besson.

<i>Taxi 2</i> 2000 French film by Gérard Krawczyk

Taxi 2 is a 2000 French action comedy film directed by Gérard Krawczyk and released in March 2000. Starring Samy Naceri, Frédéric Diefenthal and Marion Cotillard. It is the second installment in the Taxi film series. It is a sequel to Taxi, written by Luc Besson and directed by Gérard Pirès in 1999. It was followed by Taxi 3 in January 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Highmore</span> English actor (born 1992)

Alfred Thomas Highmore is an English actor. He is known for his starring roles beginning as a child, in the films Finding Neverland (2004), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Arthur and the Invisibles (2006), August Rush (2007), and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008). He won two consecutive Critics' Choice Movie Awards for Best Young Performer.

<i>Arthur and the Minimoys</i> (film) 2006 film by Luc Besson

Arthur and the Minimoys is a 2006 English-language French live-action/animated fantasy film directed and co-written by French filmmaker Luc Besson. It is based on the first two books of the Arthur children's books series, Arthur and the Minimoys and Arthur and the Forbidden City, by Besson.

<i>Arthur and the Invisibles</i> (video game) 2007 video game

Arthur and the Invisibles is three video games based on the 2006 French film Arthur and the Minimoys by Luc Besson. It retained the original name of the movie in Europe. The game involves Arthur and his two friends, Selenia and Bétamèche, on their mission to save the Minimoys' world from destruction. The game incorporates Besson's Minimoy universe and its inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EuropaCorp</span> French film production company

EuropaCorp S.A. is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature films. It specializes in production, distribution, home entertainment, VOD, sales, partnerships and licenses, recording, publishing and exhibition. EuropaCorp's integrated financial model generates revenues from a wide range of sources, with films from many genres and a strong presence in the international markets.

<i>Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard</i> 2009 French film

Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard is a 2009 English-language French animated/live-action fantasy adventure film directed and co-written by Luc Besson, based on the third book of the Arthur children's books series by Besson. It is the sequel to Arthur and the Minimoys (2006), and the second installment in the Arthur film series.

<i>Arthur</i> (Besson book series) 2006 French film

The Arthur series refers to a series of fantasy novels for children written by Luc Besson, a film director and producer, and published from 2002 to 2005 in France, the United States and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frédérique Bel</span> French actress

Frédérique Bel is a French actress and model. A native of Annecy in the French Alps, she became known for her role as Dorothy Doll in the La Minute Blonde sequence from Le Grand Journal on Canal+. She has since played main and supporting roles in many productions.

<i>A Monster in Paris</i> 2011 French film

A Monster in Paris is a 2011 French 3D computer-animated musical comedy science fantasy adventure film directed by Bibo Bergeron, and based on a story he wrote. It was produced by Luc Besson, written by Bergeron and Stéphane Kazandjian, and distributed by EuropaCorp Distribution, and features the voices of Sean Lennon, Vanessa Paradis, Adam Goldberg, Danny Huston, Madeline Zima, Matthew Géczy, Jay Harrington, Catherine O'Hara, and Bob Balaban. Many plot elements are drawn from Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. It was released on 12 October 2011. It was also produced by Bibo Films, France 3 Cinéma, Walking The Dog, uFilm, uFund, Canal+, France Télévisions, CinéCinéma, Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique and Umedia. Its music was composed by Matthieu Chedid, Sean Lennon and Patrice Renson.

<i>No Limit</i> (TV series) French TV series

No Limit is a French television action-adventure series created by filmmaker Luc Besson with Franck Philippon through Besson's EuropaCorp company. Along with Transporter: The Series, it represents one of Besson's first forays into television, although this time as a writer as well as a producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cité du Cinéma</span>

The Cité du Cinéma or Studios of Paris is a film studio complex originally supported and founded by the film director and producer Luc Besson, located in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, in a renovated power plant, commissioned in 1933 to power the Parisian metro. The studio complex is intended to be a competitor of Cinecittà in Rome, Pinewood in London and Babelsberg in Berlin. It was inaugurated on 21 September 2012. In February 2022 Tunisian-French film producer Tarak Ben Ammar finalized a deal to purchase Studios de Paris.

<i>Lucy</i> (2014 film) 2014 French science fiction action film

Lucy is a 2014 English-language French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson for his company EuropaCorp, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It is an English-language film shot in Taipei, Paris, and New York City. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, and Amr Waked. Johansson portrays the titular character, a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities when a nootropic, psychedelic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominique Farrugia</span> French actor

Dominique Farrugia is a French actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, humorist and comedian. He is a member and founder of the group of comedians Les Nuls alongside Alain Chabat, Chantal Lauby and Bruno Carette.

<i>Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets</i> 2017 film by Luc Besson

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a 2017 space opera film written and directed by Luc Besson, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It is based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin, illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières, and published by Dargaud. It stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as Valerian and Laureline, respectively, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles. Besson independently financed and personally funded the film. With a production budget of around $223 million, it is both the most expensive European and the most expensive independent film ever made.

<i>Kursk</i> (film) 2018 film by Thomas Vinterberg

Kursk is a 2018 disaster drama-thriller film directed by Thomas Vinterberg, based on Robert Moore's book A Time to Die, about the true story of the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster. It stars Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Peter Simonischek, August Diehl, Max von Sydow, and Colin Firth. It was the last film featuring von Sydow to be released before his death in March 2020.

Taxi is a series of French comedy films, created by screenwriter and producer Luc Besson, consisting of five films primarily set in Marseille. In addition, an American-French remake of the 1998 original was made in 2004 and titled Taxi. In 2014 an American-French TV series called Taxi Brooklyn also aired.

<i>Arthur, malédiction</i> 2022 French film by Barthélemy Grossmann

Arthur, malédiction is a 2022 French meta psychological horror film directed by Barthélemy Grossmann. It is the fourth installment overall in the Arthur film series, which is based on the eponymous children's fantasy novel series by Luc Besson, and serves a spin-off in which the original trilogy is presented as a film-within-a-film. The film stars an ensemble cast, and follows a group of Arthur fans who discover the house that was used as one of the trilogy live-action sequences set, only to find themselves being hunted down one-by-one by a group of deranged role-players.

References

  1. Mintzer, Jordan (October 14, 2010). "Review: 'Arthur and the War of Two Worlds'". Variety . Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  2. "Arthur et la guerre des deux mondes". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  3. Luc Besson et ses Minimoys plombent EuropaCorp, Libération, 30 juin 2011
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0940656/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_32_act
  5. 1 2 "Quels sont les 10 films français les plus chers de l'histoire ?". AlloCiné.fr (in French). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  6. "Arthur 3 : La Guerre des deux mondes - critiques presse". Allociné . Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. "Arthur and the Two World War". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  8. Nusair, David (24 March 2011). "The Films of Luc Besson". Reel Film Reviews. Retrieved 12 July 2020.