Recently, Luc Besson had some choice words for the media who falsely reported about him being involved in the making of a sequel to his 2014 action film LUCY. Today, the filmmaker is moving forward from his public outburst by officially announcing his next film, ANNA, which has Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy, Luke Evans and Russian model Sasha Luss set to star.
Besson is preparing to direct the film from a script that he has written with Lionsgate on board to co-produce and distribute. The project will begin production in November with Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment poised to release the film upon completion. Little is known about the plot at this time, though Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Patrick Wachsberger and president of acquisitions & co-productions Jason Constantine have jointly stated that the film will be another of Besson's "action-packed" ventures featuring an A-list cast of Hollywood's elite.
Given the box office failure that was Besson's VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS, the French filmmaker will presumably need more than star-power to convince moviegoers and critics that he's got what it takes to deliver a movie worth getting excited about. Hopefully, the man who once brought us such films as LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL and THE FIFTH ELEMENT can come back swinging with his next star-studded effort.
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS will be available to own on Digital beginning on November 7th, with the DVD and Blu-Ray releases set to land on November 21st.