Besson to Direct New Film

The headline alone is worth a post. Besson's footprint on modern cinema may be lacking in frequency, but are deep and clear as any of his contemporaries. Even when he is not directing, the projects and filmmakers he backs through his EuroCorp have a contributed to a varied palette of films that distinguish Besson as a filmmaker in every sense of the word.

News out of Cannes 2009 reports that financing sales have gone well for his next film, THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC. It is an adaptation of a French comic by the same title.

According to this site, the titular character is

... a freelance writer who operates in Paris, first before World War I, then in the 1920s. In her adventures, she faces mad scientists, secret sects of demon worshippers, Egyptian mummies brought back to life, and a host of other weird creatures.

I can't even begin to express my excitement at the potential of having Besson direct a film about a gruff, smoking, pistol brandishing adventuress in turn-of-the-century France. The visuals and more importantly, the storytelling style he can unleash on such a period piece already leaves me wanting more. "Steampunk fiction" is sorely lacking in cinema, a dim torch at this point being kept alive by the likes of Guillermo del Toro. Let's hope the encouraging pre-sales of THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC is a sign of growing interest in the genre.