EuropaCorp
French production and distribution company founded by Luc Besson, behind the Taken and Transporter franchises, Lucy, Valerian, and dozens of action-oriented European productions.
Overview
EuropaCorp is a French film production and distribution company founded in 2000 by director Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. The company was built on a distinctive model: producing commercially ambitious European genre films, primarily action and thriller content, that could compete with Hollywood releases in international markets. EuropaCorp also operates the Cite du Cinema, a major production facility in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
At its peak, EuropaCorp produced approximately 8 to 12 films per year and maintained its own global distribution network. The company demonstrated that European studios could produce commercially viable action content without relying on Hollywood talent or financing structures.
History
Luc Besson established EuropaCorp after building a career directing high-concept French action films including The Big Blue (1988), La Femme Nikita (1990), Leon: The Professional (1994), and The Fifth Element (1997). EuropaCorp was designed to scale this approach, producing action films written or co-written by Besson and directed by a rotating roster of filmmakers.
The company's most commercially successful properties include the Taken franchise (2008-2014), starring Liam Neeson, which collectively grossed over $900 million worldwide; the Transporter franchise (2002-2015); District 13 (2004); Lucy (2014), which earned $463 million worldwide; and The Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017).
EuropaCorp built the Cite du Cinema in 2012, a 62,000-square-meter production complex housing nine sound stages, post-production facilities, and offices. The facility was designed to attract both EuropaCorp's own productions and international shoots seeking to use French production incentives.
The company experienced financial difficulties in the late 2010s following the underperformance of Valerian (budgeted at approximately $180 million) and entered a court-supervised restructuring process. EuropaCorp emerged from restructuring with a reduced slate and refocused operations.
What Filmmakers Should Know
EuropaCorp continues to produce and distribute films, though at a reduced scale compared to its peak output. The company's Cite du Cinema facility is available for stage rental and production services, and France's film tax credit (up to 30% for international productions) makes the facility competitive with other European studio complexes.
For filmmakers working in action and genre space with European connections, EuropaCorp's model demonstrated that non-Hollywood genre production can achieve global commercial results when combined with aggressive international distribution.
See Also
For understanding how European action production works, see Distribution Deals Explained. To model revenue across international territories, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator.
