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Company type | Public ( Société Anonyme ) |
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Euronext Paris: ALECP | |
Industry | Motion picture |
Founded | 1992 |
Founders |
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Headquarters | Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France |
Number of locations | 2 (2016) |
Key people |
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Revenue | ![]() |
€16.7 million (2021) | |
Owners | Frontline (72.1%) Fundamental Films (27.9%) [1] |
Divisions |
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Website | www |
EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP. until 2022) 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 produce and distribute 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.
Over 14 years, EuropaCorp has produced and co-produced over 80 films and is now distributing over 500 titles after the integration of the RoissyFilms Catalogue. The studio is mainly known for its expertise in the production of English-language films. [2] It developed and produced the successful Taken trilogy and the Transporter series. [3] It began producing TV series in 2010 through EuropaCorp Television which had already adapted EuropaCorp's popular Taxi film franchise.
Since 2018, the company has faced tumultuous times following accusations of rape and sexual assault against its chairman and majority owner Luc Besson. [4] [5]
The company was created by Luc Besson in 1992 under the name Leeloo Productions, but it only fully began producing and co-producing feature films many years later, with the release of Taxi and The Dancer . The company was renamed EuropaCorp in 2000. [6] Luc Besson had also created a smaller production company called Les Films du Dauphin in 1990 that has existed outside of Leeloo Productions / EuropaCorp. [7] Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, old associate of Besson from Gaumont, the production company behind many earlier Besson's directed films, joined EuropaCorp in 2000. He had worked with Besson since 1985 first as a Distribution Director and from 1997 as a Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Gaumont. He became known as the right-hand man of Besson at EuropaCorp. He left the company in 2011 over disagreements with Besson. [8]
In July 2007 EuropaCorp successfully managed its IPO on Euronext Paris. [9] In May 2008, the CSA, French authority for media regulation, selected the EuropaCorp TV project in its invitation to apply for a mobile TV channel in France.[ citation needed ] In 2013 Lisa Ellzey, hitherto producer for Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox, was appointed as executive vice president of U.S. Motion Picture Production of EuropaCorp. [10]
In 2018, Besson was accused of rape by an actress who wishes to remain anonymous. [11] EuropaCorp stocks dropped 17% to just €2.31 ($2.70) after the rape allegation. [12] Later the same year, EuropaCorp sold its French television division to Mediawan and renamed into Storia Television. EuropaCorp also agreed to sell the Roissy Films library to Gaumont. [13] Five more women made similar statements against Besson. [14]
In May 2019 EuropaCorp was granted a six-month debt waiver from a French commercial court and placed under court protection. [15] [16] A week later the studio filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. [17] Its stock value had fallen to €0.67. It had no films in production. [16] In December 2019 the company was $182 million in debt and it had been in long bailout negotiations with Vine Alternative Investments . [18]
In 2007 EuropaCorp was owned at 62% by Luc Besson through his company Frontline and at 8.06% by Pierre-Ange Le Pogam; 23% was public. [9] [19]
Besson was appointed the chairman of EuropaCorp's board of directors. Jean-Julien Baronnet was the chief executive officer of EuropaCorp until November 2008. Christophe Lambert was CEO from 2010 to 2016. [20] Marc Shmuger was appointed as CEO in 2016. [21]
Digital Factory is related to EuropaCorp via Luc Besson. [22] The handling of post-production sound is performed chiefly at its Normandy site, while the visual effects are done in Paris.
In September 2016 it was announced that Chinese film company Fundamental Films had acquired a stake of 27.9% in EuropaCorp, becoming the second-largest shareholder in the company. [23]
In June 2017, EuropaCorp signed a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. [24] And later that month, the studio posted a loss of 120 million euros (US$135 million). [25]
There are some important rumors (no gossips) of a possible merger between IMDB (Jeff Bezzos) and Gobelins (Pierre Coffin) constituting a new development of the Europa Group group after Luc Besson (former CEO) dismissal and death. The Group is considering some interesting acquisitions in order to develop its production activities in United States. Some corporations have been mentioned as possible targets such as Miramax, Disney and Nelvana Corus Entertainment.
Isabelle Adjani, the french famous actress in movies such as "Camille Claudel" and "La Reine Margot", has been appointed by Marc Schmuger with Pierre Coffin as new executive managers for the American production activities under consideration since 2017. Some other activities (Bonnier and Ateliers du Varan) have been sold to Cristiano Ronaldo (Luis) for a consideration of 10 Millions Euro.
EuropaCorp has produced the world box-office hits Taken ($224 million at world box-office), Arthur and the Invisibles ($107 million), Transporter 3 ($106 million) and Hitman ($100 million). Two EuropaCorp productions have been topping the US box-office: Transporter 2 by summer 2005 and Taken at spring 2009.
Many international film stars have appeared in EuropaCorp productions: Jim Carrey, Penélope Cruz, Robert De Niro, David Duchovny, Morgan Freeman, Salma Hayek, Tommy Lee Jones, Jet Li, John Malkovich, Jason Statham, Brittany Murphy, Liam Neeson, Madonna, Freddie Highmore, Ewan McGregor, Lou Reed, and others. Consequently, the films are usually shot in English. [26]
EuropaCorp Japan, a subsidiary of EuropaCorp based in Tokyo, has for core business the distribution of feature films in Japan. It is a joint-venture with three Japanese companies: Asmik Ace, Sumitomo Corporation and Kadokawa.
In 2012, EuropaCorp struck a three-year output deal with Chinese film distributor Fundamental Films for 15 feature films. Fundamental Films agreed to co-produce three of these films. [27] [28]
In May 2015, the company announced an output deal with Polish film distributor Kino Swiat. [29]
EuropaCorp relocated to the Cité du Cinéma in 2012. This movie studio complex, located in Saint-Denis in the close outskirts of Paris, at build out will have a total of nine film stages, [2] with another 12,000 square metres of space devoted to technical units and 2200 square metres for screening and reception rooms. [2] [30]
The cinema, photography and sound engineering school ENS Louis-Lumière was relocated to the complex in 2012.
EuropaCorp signed a lease with the Nef Lumière, owner of the tertiary complex, for space for its permanent staff and the film crews, with extra space for potential new activities. This tertiary complex is financed by both the Caisse des Dépôt and Vinci.
EuropaCorp is a minority shareholder in the company operating the studios, joining Euro Media Group, Quinta Communications and Frontline. The Euro Media Group, which owns several film studios throughout Europe, will provide management of daily operations of these studios of Paris.
The cinema of France comprises the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe, with primary influence also on the creation of national cinemas in Asia.
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 is 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.
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 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.
The Gaumont Film Company, often shortened to Gaumont, is a French film studio headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in the world, established before other studios such as Pathé, Titanus (1904), Nordisk Film (1906), Universal, Paramount, and Nikkatsu.
La Femme Nikita, also called Nikita in France, is a 1990 French-language action thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Anne Parillaud as the title character, a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering policemen during an armed pharmacy robbery. Her government handlers fake her death and recruit her as a professional assassin. After intense training, she starts a career as a killer, where she struggles to balance her work with her personal life. She shows talent at this and her career progresses until a mission in an embassy goes awry.
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.
Marc Shmuger is an American entertainment executive and film producer. From 1998 to 2009 he was working for Universal Pictures, where he became chairman in 2006. From February 2016 to December 2017 he was the CEO of EuropaCorp.
Colombiana is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callum Blue, and Jordi Mollà. The term "Colombiana" means a woman from Colombia. The film is about Cataleya, a nine-year-old girl in Colombia whose family is killed by a drug lord. Fifteen years later, a grown Cataleya seeks her revenge.
No Limit is a 2012 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.
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.
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.
Method Animation is a French animation studio which produces CGI and 2D animated shows. It came together in 2014 as the culmination of a merger of Dimitri Rassam's Chapter 2 and Alexis Vonarb's Onyx Films. Method Animation is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Mediawan. Paris-based ON Entertainment, headed by Rassam, is one of its divisions. In 2018, Mediawan obtained a 53.53% stake in Method Animation through its acquisition of ON Kids & Family and ON Entertainment, thus bringing it under the same ownership with Storia Television which was derived from the former French television division of Luc Besson's EuropaCorp.
Studio Chizu is a Japanese animation studio based in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. It was co-founded by Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito in 2011. Studio Chizu has won three Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year awards. The image in their logo is a reference to Makoto Konno, the main character of the Hosoda-directed 2006 film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
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.
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.
Anna is a 2019 action thriller film written, produced and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Sasha Luss as the eponymous assassin, alongside Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren, and Alexander Petrov.
Mediawan is a French media conglomerate. It was founded in December 2015 by Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Pierre-Antoine Capton under the legal form of a special-purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") with the purpose to acquire assets and operations in the media production and distribution business in Europe. Their ambition for the company was to become "one of the largest platforms for European content".
Dogman is a 2023 English-language French drama thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson and starring Caleb Landry Jones, Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, John Charles Aguilar and Grace Palma. Set in New Jersey, it depicts a man who was abused by his father and loves dogs.
Weekend in Taipei is an upcoming French action film directed by George Huang and co-written with Luc Besson. Starring Luke Evans, Gwei Lun-mei, and Sung Kang, the film was filmed and set in Taiwan. It centers around an American DEA agent, John Lawlor (Evans), who reunites with a Taipei-based mercenary driver, Joey Kwang (Gwei), and becomes entangled in a romantic relationship with her.
5.1.5 Company history and major events in the development of the company and Group
Created by Luc Besson in 1992 under the name Leeloo Productions, the Company really began producing and co-producing feature films in 1999, with the release the following year of Taxi 2 and The Dancer.