09/10/2006

French director Luc Besson, who announced early September that Arthur and the Minimoys (release December 13) would be his last film as a director, has had a change of mind and will furthermore present the film’s trailer and making of on October 16 at the RomeFilmFest (October 13-21).

"If I make no more films, that suits me fine. I’ve said what I had to say. But I’m not an idiot. If someone gives me a good script, I’ll make a film," said the 47 year-old director and head of EuropaCorp on Friday at the Frankfurt Book Fair. He added that if Arthur and the Minimoys was a success, he would start filming on Arthur et la ville interdite (lit. “Arthur and the Forbidden City”), the next volume in the children’s saga that he wrote, in June 2007.

Carrying a record €65.2m budget – which may explain this very personalised promotional strategy – Arthur and the Minimoys recounts the adventures of a 10 year-old boy who enters the magical world of the Minimoys and discovers the seven lands of their kingdom, an imaginary journey that could save the family house that is threatened by an unscrupulous buyer.

Voices in the English version are supplied by Madonna (Princess Sélénia), David Bowie (M le Maudit), Mia Farrow and the rapper Snoop Dogg, while singers Mylène Farmer, Alain Bashung and Marc Lavoine are the lead voices of the French version.

Produced by EuropaCorp, Arthur and the Minimoys is a co-production with Avalanche Productions, Apipoulaï and The Weinstein Company, and received pre-sales funding from TF1 Films Production and Canal +. The film will open in Belgium on December 13, the Netherlands and Iceland on December 20, in Spain sometime in December, in the US on January 12, 2007 and in Germany on January 25.

The French release on December 13 is expected to be a large-scale affair, with EuropaCorp. Distribution planning to release the film on 900 screens.

(Translated from French)