The last few films by director Luc Besson have been extremely divisive among movie fans.
From his action based science fiction project Lucy to the mega budgeted Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, the director has remained centered on doing his own thing. Now, it appears that he's partnering with Netflix for an exclusive deal that could have him producing potential sci fi based movies for the streaming service. He may also be able to go back to his roots of directing more dramatic thriller fare like The Professional.
Netflix is set to spend around $8 billion in 2018 putting out as much original content as possible. With a large number like that, they are pairing with many bigger name directors to try and keep a high profile. Martin Scorsese obviously has a project in the works with them and Nightcrawler director Dan Gilroy also signing on the dotted line with the brand.
The deal would give Besson an estimated $30 million per project, which would mean a potential Valerian sequel would have to make dramatic cost cutting efforts. This could be an exciting route for the director though, as he might be given a bit more free reign. Netflix appears to be pushing the envelope artistically with their many original shows and films.
-CG