Luc Besson’s studio discussing rescue with US fund Vine

Luc Besson Photo: IC

French film-maker Luc Besson's loss-making studio EuropaCorp told media on Sunday it was in talks with US investment fund Vine Alternative Investments, one of its creditors, for the fund to take a major stake to rescue the studio.

The studio, confirming a report in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, said in a statement it was speaking with Vine about "a possible equity participation."

It cautioned though that it "cannot give any guarantee that this operation will carry through."

According to the Journal du Dimanche, Besson - the man behind well-known movies such as Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element and the action-packed The Transporter and Taken films - preferred to see Vine take control of EuropaCorp rather than French film group Pathe.

AFP was unable to contact representatives from either Pathe or Vine for a statement on Sunday.

EuropaCorp, a 20-year-old studio, located in a northern Paris suburb, has run up losses over the past four years, particularly by failing to recoup its big production costs on a lavish 2017 sci-fi movie, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, that was a box-office disappointment.

EuropaCorp in May secured a six-month suspension of its debt repayments as it cast around for a rescuer. 

Its 2018-19 financial year saw it rack up 110 million euros ($123.9 million) in debt, on top of the 82 million in the previous period.

In 2016, China's Fundamental Films injected 60 million euros into the studio, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

Besson's latest film, a crime thriller titled Anna that he wrote and directed, opened last month to poor reviews but solid audience scores.