The Fifth Element by Luc Besson

Two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of Evil. Only the Fifth Element (Leeloo) can stop the Evil from extinguishing life, as it tries to do every five thousand years. She is assisted by a former elite commando turned cab driver, Korben Dallas, who is, in turn, helped by Prince/Arsenio clone, Ruby Rhod. Unfortunately, Evil is being assisted by Mr. Zorg, who seeks to profit from the chaos that Evil will bring, and his alien mercenaries.

Gallery

Mondoshawan: Priest, you and those before you have served us well. But war is coming. Stones not safe on Earth anymore.
Priest: My lord, if you take the weapon, we will be defenseless when the evil returns.
Mondoshawan: In 300 years, when Evil returns… so shall we.

Besson met Bruce Willis a few years before production started and talked about the project, although he decided later to search for a relatively unknown young actor for the role of Korben instead, so as to spend less on actors and more on sets, costumes, and special effects. Willis approached Luc Besson expressing continued interest in the film, and after Besson explained the issue, Willis responded “You know, Luc, if I like it, we will find a way.” Willis made a deal with the production team for the role, a move which greatly pleased Besson.
Besson chose to hire Gary Oldman, who had starred in his previous film, Léon: The Professional, for the role of Zorg, describing Oldman as “one of the top five actors in the world.”
For the character Leeloo, Besson chose Milla Jovovich from the 200 to 300 applicants he met in person.
He states he was waiting to build a reputation for himself as a filmmaker before he commenced production of the film, so that he would be able to make it with creative control.

The Fifth Element
Directed by	Luc Besson
Produced by	Patrice Ledoux
Screenplay by	Luc Besson Robert Mark Kamen
Story by	Luc Besson
Starring	Bruce Willis Gary Oldman Milla Jovovich Ian Holm Chris Tucker
Music by	Éric Serra
Cinematography	Thierry Arbogast
Edited by	Sylvie Landra
Production company	Gaumont Film Company
Distributed by	Gaumont Buena Vista International (France) Columbia Pictures (USA)
Release dates	7 May 1997 (1997-05-07)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	France
Language	English
Budget	$90 millions
Box office	$263.9 million
Two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of Evil. Only the Fifth Element can stop the Evil from extinguishing life, as it tries to do every five thousand years. She is assisted by a former elite commando turned cab driver, Korben Dallas, who is, in turn, helped by Prince/Arsenio clone, Ruby Rhod. Unfortunately, Evil is being assisted by Mr. Zorg, who seeks to profit from the chaos that Evil will bring, and his alien mercenaries.