When it comes to sci-fi cinema, few movies are asbizarrely entertainingasThe Fifth Element, the 1997 English-language,French-producedscience-fiction action film that was co-written by Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid) and Luc Besson and directed by the latter. The movie featured an eclectic cast that included Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas, Milla Jovovich as Leeloo, Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod, and Gary Oldman as Jean-Baptiste Zorg.
August 26, 2025: This article has been updated byMona Bassilwith further details aboutThe Fifth Elementsequel that never happened.
The story behind the making ofThe Fifth Elementis as much a clash of cultures as the movie itself, which boasted a strange, captivating European arthouse aesthetic filtered through the prism of raw commercial Hollywood. It follows the story of a taxicab driver, played by Willis, who takes it upon himself to protect the life of a strange, humanoid creature, portrayed by Jovovich, whose existence is directly linked to the survival of the human race, which is under the threat of a malevolent cosmic entity. The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, became the highest-grossing French film in Europe, and made over $263 million worldwide. So why haven’t the creators released a sequel yet?
The Movie Underperformed in the U.S.A.
The Fifth Elementwas a hit internationally, as reportedly 75% of its box office gross came from markets outside the United States. Yet the film was a box office disappointment in the United States, grossing $63 million against a production budget of $90 million. It managed to be the ninth highest-grossing film worldwide of 1997, but in the United States only ranked 26 and was even outgrossed by notable box offices bombs likeBatman and Robinthat same summer. The reviews forThe Fifth Elementin the United States were also mixed asTodd McCarthy of Varietywrote, “A largely misfired European attempt to make an American-style sci-fi spectacular,The Fifth Elementconsists of a hodgepodge of elements that don’t comfortably coalesce.”
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Kamen told Uproxxthat the original plan had always been to make a sequel toThe Fifth Element, but that fell through because of the movie underperforming in the United States. While today international markets are important for a movie to be seen as viable, back in 1997, they were less of a priority. Kamen said:
“[The script for The Fifth Element] was actually 180 pages, and then [Luc Besson] added a second part to it, which made no sense either. We were going to do it as a sequel, but it made no sense, and The Fifth Element wasn’t big enough here. It was huge in the rest of the world, and it’s a classic, but it only did $75 million here or $80 million. It was way ahead of its time. So we never did the sequel, and the sequel would have been taking the other 180-page thing [Luc Besson] had and working it into a script.”
The Movie Itself Took Too Long to Make
According to Kamen, he was working with Warner Brothers as a script doctor when the producer Bill Gerber, asked him to take a look at a strange new script written by a guy namedLuc Besson, who had made the 1990 action thrillerLa Femme Nikita. Kamen had trouble understanding the script but considered Besson a cinematic genius based on his previous work and agreed to meet the filmmaker. Unfortunately, the meeting was far from being a success. Kamen thought he blew the meeting with Besson as he was a Hollywood screenwriter telling a French auteur everything wrong with his script and could visibly see Besson being upset.
Kamen naturally concluded that was the last he would ever hear aboutThe Fifth Element. But to his surprise, Besson called him a week later and asked for his help in writing the script. Soon after that, Kamen was on a plane to Paris, where a three-day brainstorming session with the director turned into a three-week tour of the studio which was being prepared to bring life to the alien world ofThe Fifth Element. Kamen and Besson were finally able to create a script they were both satisfied with and thus began the journey, which lasted for four more years, to create a movie thatmany consider a highlight of 90s sci-fi classicsup there withThe Matrix.
All the Main Characters Would Be Replaced in a Sequel
Dallas and Leeloo pretty much wrapped up the story, finding love and saving the planet. While they could always team up again to confront a new global threat, that seems unlikely.Bruce Willis officially retired from actingafter he was diagnosed with aphasia, which impacts his memory. Willis left behind an incredible legacy, and with it being impossible for him to reprise his role, it would also be difficult to replace him. As for Jovovich, who fared much better asAlice in theResident Evilfranchise, she already has a rocky personal history with her ex-husband Besson, making a new collaboration highly unlikely.
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There is also the issue with Besson himself. In 2018 actress Sand Van Roy accused Beeson of rape. While the case was dismissed in 2021 due to lack of evidence, in 2022, Van Roy filed a complaint against the magistrate in charge of the case. In addition,nine women have accused Beeson of sexual misconduct.Beeson has not made a movie since 2019’s Anna, which went into production before the various claims against him were made. It seems unlikely he will be given the reigns of a big-budget movie again.
With all that in mind, it seems unlikelyThe Fifth Element 2will ever happen. Whilelegacy sequels likeTop Gun: MaverickandStar Wars: The Force Awakenshave been box office hits, aFifth Element 2would require entirely new actors and a new director. They could continue the story on in the same universe, but given the film’s cult status as opposed to a box office juggernaut, a sequel seems less in demand.
