The Fifth Element

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Fifth Element (disambiguation).
"Korben Dallas" redirects here. For the Slovak rock band, see Korben Dallas (band).

The Fifth Element
Theatrical poster for The Fifth Element
US theatrical release poster
FrenchLe Cinquième Élément
Directed byLuc Besson
Screenplay by
Story byLuc Besson
Produced byPatrice Ledoux
Starring
CinematographyThierry Arbogast
Edited bySylvie Landra
Music byÉric Serra
Production
company
Distributed byGaumont Buena Vista International[1]
Release date
  • 7 May 1997 (1997-05-07) (France)
Running time
126 minutes[2]
CountryFrance
LanguageEnglish
Budget$90 million[3][4][5][6][a]
Box office$263.9 million[7]

The Fifth Element[b] is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, as well as co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, and Chris Tucker. Primarily set in the 23rd century, the film's central plot involves the survival of planet Earth, which becomes the responsibility of Korben Dallas (Willis), a taxicab driver and former special forces major, after a young woman (Jovovich) falls into his cab. To accomplish this, Dallas joins forces with her to recover four mystical stones essential for the defence of Earth against the impending attack of a malevolent cosmic entity.

Besson started writing the story that was developed as The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old; he was 38 when the film opened in cinemas. Besson wanted to shoot the film in France, but suitable facilities could not be found; filming took place in London and Mauritania instead. He hired comic artists Jean "Moebius" Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières, whose books inspired parts of the film, for production design. Costume design was by Jean Paul Gaultier.

The Fifth Element received mainly positive reviews, although some critics were highly negative. The film won in categories at the British Academy Film Awards, the César Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Lumières Awards, but also received nominations at the Golden Raspberry and Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. The Fifth Element was a strong financial success, earning more than US$263 million at the box office on a $90 million budget. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive European film ever made, and it remained the highest-grossing French film at the international box office until the release of The Intouchables in 2011.

  1. ^ "Le Cinquième élément" [The Fifth Element]. Ciné-Ressources (in French). Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Fifth Element, The Le Cinquieme Elemente". Australian Classification Board. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. ^ Besson 1997, p. 11.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference roger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference slate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Mazdon 2000, p. 110; Hayward 2009, p. 91.
  7. ^ "The Fifth Element (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.


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