Luc Besson Teases 'Crazy' New Sci-Fi Film and Tells Venice Stories at Masterclass
Luc Besson told a Venice Film Festival masterclass on 6 September 2026 that he is writing a new science-fiction story, calling it "crazy" and joking that audiences "will need a ticket and an aspirin at the same time." Variety
The French director, whose first feature was the post-apocalyptic sci-fi The Last Battle (1983), traced the scale of his ambition in the genre by counting effects shots. The Fifth Element (1997) had 182 special effects, he said. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) had 4,000. The new project, still in the writing stage, was the freshest detail in a wide-ranging conversation that covered his full career.
Besson was at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival with Father Joe, a film he wrote and produced, directed by Barthélémy Grossmann. It premiered out of competition — meaning it screens outside the main prize race — and stars Kiefer Sutherland and Al Pacino. The festival's synopsis describes the title character as a man of God who wages a secret war, busting crime rings singlehandedly. VFX house Mill Channel delivered 350 effects shots for the film, according to the company's own announcement. (Mill Channel, Facebook)
Al Pacino did not appear at the film's press conference, sending a video message instead. "It's great to say his name," Pacino said of Besson. Variety
The masterclass, held at 4:00 pm on Sunday 6 September and livestreamed on the Biennale website, ranged across Besson's directing philosophy. He said a director should only take on a project when they believe they are the best person for it. The Big Blue (1988) was one he had to make himself; Taken (2008) and Father Joe were projects he felt friends could handle better. Variety
He was candid about which films came easily and which did not. Léon: The Professional (1994) was easy, he said. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) was not — "you are talking to God." The idea for Léon came from spotting a huge man wearing a heavy coat in the heat of a Paris summer; Besson built the story around a little girl as the character the killer could relate to. Variety
Besson also recalled directing Madonna's music video for "Love Profusion." He said she called him saying the original director "sucks" and she needed the video the next day. He shot it at short notice. He called Madonna "a phenomenon." Variety
On artificial intelligence, Besson was unbothered. He compared AI to "a tiger" that a director can handle "with a whip," framing it as a tool rather than a threat. Variety
Besson's most recent completed film as director is Dracula: A Love Tale, starring Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz. He described it as a love story, not a horror film, and said he made it for Landry Jones. Variety
For audiences, the takeaway is that a director who has spent four decades scaling up science fiction — from a stripped-down debut to a film with 4,000 effects shots — is heading back into the genre, with no release date yet attached.
