Seantn

I believe Besson. The Weinstein's are notorious for messing with people's movies.

From IMDB:

Producer Harvey Weinstein has hit back at Luc Besson, branding him a "has-been", after the French director accused him of ruining his fantasy movie Arthur And The Invisibles. The Fifth Element filmmaker said he was disappointed with the U.S. performance of the movie - which he wrote and directed - in an interview with SuicideGirls.com. Besson said, "I've worked in the movie business for 30 years now. (The Weinstein Company) was the worst I have worked with in my entire life, in any country. Why the critics didn't like Arthur was because they changed so much of the film and tried to pretend the film was American. The critics aren't stupid. They watched the film, they vaguely smell American but they can feel the film is forced for an American audience." Weinstein brought in Madonna, Snoop Dogg and Robert De Niro to provide the voiceovers for the U.S. version, replacing the original French actors who appeared in the Gallic version. In response, Weinstein tells the New York Daily News, "He's out of his mind. He's a has-been."

baracine

Urge to kill...rising...rising...rising...

The Bus

I'm not going to say Luc Besson is a has been, but from the perspective of the American market (which is all that Weinstein cares about), Besson hasn't made a big movie since The Fifth Element, ten years ago.

Mazje

And, to be brutally honest, "Arthur and the Invisibles" was pretty poor anyway. Granted, I only saw the American version of it, but there wasn't enough good about it to make me want to seek out the original version, either. Still, not real classy on either side.

fumanstan

And even that wasn't particularly a big hit.

Seantn

Calling him a has-been and saying "he's lost it" seems to indicate that Harvey is saying he makes shitty films. Hits or bombs don't have anything to do with it.

Rockmjd23

Weinstein probably believes a good movie is just one that makes lots of money.

Mr. Salty

They both make good arguments.

PopcornTreeCt

Weinstein sucks.

porieux

I would say Besson is a "never was". Fifth Element is one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life and I will never forgive him for those 2 hours of misery.

baracine

Sweinstein!

PopcornTreeCt

onebyone

With Harvey Weinstein's track record of late, maybe he should refrain from using the term "Has-Been" for awhile.

Mosskeeto

If Weinstein didn't like it he would have never bothered distributing it, so clearly he saw $$ potential in it and thought he could tweak it to bring in even more receipts. However, you can't force a mediocre film down the throats of the public so the box office was disappointing. They each are looking to blame someone else but they're in denial and can only blame themselves.

Numanoid

Yeah, why would you go into business with a has-been? Weinstein sounds like a school kid that couldn't think of a good name to call him back.

porieux

Really? Seems that it happens every week.

cranberries fan

Well Angel-A looks not to be the work of a "has-been".I love the works of Besson one best flimmakers in the world.

meritocracy

Cranberries opinion notwithstanding, the general consensus, which I'm in complete agreement with, is that Besson's best work is long behind him, and he frankly hasn't directed, written or produced an inspired piece of work in ages. Granted, Angel-A is the best thing he's done in years, but considering the amount of crappy celluloid he's been pumping out as of late, it would be hard for it not to be.

Not that I hold any love for Weinstein either mind you, but the man's a ready-made punching bag, so I can't even be bothered to rip him here...others will be sure to. This is mearly another example of two industry guys attempting to place blame for an unmitigated box-office failure on the other.

In short..."Yawn".

Rogue588

Not to sidetrack this convo, but exactly what are the difference?

Abob Teff

From Beleivewhatyouread.com:

Celebrity tiffs are nothing new in Hollywood, ask the Donald and Rosey and Elizabeth. However one of the silver screen's latest celebrity feuds has taken an odd turn. Recently French (and occasionally American) director Luc Besson (The Professional, La Femme Nikita) and self proclaimed movie deity Harvey Weinstein have been having a battle of the words, ending with Weinstein declaring Besson "a has been."

Famed American darling director Uwe Bol has recently chipped in to the battle royale in an interview with Brown Stuff Magazine: "Harvey is a fat doo-doo head. Bloodrayne was a thousand times better than the Matrix." Bol also took a stab at Besson saying "foreign directors will never understand the art of making American blockbusters." Bol further prodded at Besson with the statement "I understand he has surrendered to Werner Herzog."

Bol was in New York promoting his upcoming movie, yet another video game adaptation: "Pong." "It is the story of two conflicting sides and the turmoil that is expressed by the love interest that is bounced about like a child's plaything. It will make Gone With the Wind look like Alien Loves Predator."

tylergfoster

You can't really disparage Besson the director and filmmaker for pumping out hundreds of simple actioners as Besson the writer/producer. Those films do not represent what he would do as a filmmaker or he would direct them. Angel-A looks visually stunning and highly entertaining, so I think I'm siding with Besson on this one.

And to the person who hates Besson, are you judging by The Fifth Element alone? Leon is one of the best movies ever made...

UAIOE

Who listens to Harvey Weinstein anymore?

porieux

I don't hate him I just think his films suck. But yeah I am going by Fifth Element.
I don't care what else he has done I can't forgive that travesty.

Rockmjd23

I wonder what Harvey's response to Tarantino and Rodriguez would be if they (rightfully) blamed him for Grindhouse's box office failure.

baracine

Besson is one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived. The Fifth Element, even if some people don't "get" a comedy about the end of the world where Preston Sturges meets Tex Avery, is one of the best films ever made. I actually loved Arthur and the Invisibles, a great little non-violent children's film which didn't succeed in America because nobody dies in it. True, the French version has a particular charm that is somewhat lost in the English voiceover of the animation part but it at least lets us hear the magnificent English-speaking live-action actors (including Mia Farrow). This is a quarrel between producers. Sweinstein can't forgive that the film didn't make money in America - even tough it's partly his fault for orchestrating such a miserable excuse for a promotion on this side of the pond that I actually heard about the film through my European connections. And Besson the producer can't help but notice that his latest labour of love (and its merchandising) will make him a very rich man in Europe and allow him to build an animation studio to rival Pixar and Dreamworks and do whatever he wants for the rest of his life. His only mistake was this one-time deal with Hollywood's Number One Two-Faced Back-Stabbing Money-Grabbing Yahoo Sleazeball.

Urge to kill... subsiding...