Fathom Events, the company behind limited theatrical engagements like Batman: The Killing Joke and recent anniversary reissues for Spirited Away, Space Jam, and The Breakfast Club, will bring Luc Besson’s cult favorite The Fifth Element back to the big screen in May for two nights only.
The film was a big financial hit in 1997, despite dividing critics — but with Besson’s continued popularity The Fifth Element has reached cult-classic status in the twenty years since it was first released.
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“Few films have presented a sensory experience quite like The Fifth Element,” said Tom Lucas, Fathom Events Vice President of Studio Relations, in a press release. “After opening at No. 1 at the U.S. box office, it attracted both critical raves and a cult following that has deepened during the past two decades. We are thrilled to bring it back to its well-deserved home on cinema screens for its 20th anniversary.”
The Fifth Element centers on a cab driver Corben Dallas (Bruce Willis) in 23rd Century New York who unexpectedly finds himself harboring a fugitive who might have ties to a centuries-old conspiracy involving aliens, religion, and a bleak prophecy. As the living embodiment of “the fifth element,” Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) must combine with the other four to stop the apocalypse — but neither she nor Dallas know exactly what that means or how to make it happen. Along for the ride are an eccentric priest played by Ian Holm and a…well, a 23rd Century version of a Chris Tucker character, played by Chris Tucker.
Besson has a new film, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, coming out this summer and the twentieth-anniversary reissue of The Fifth Element will bring with it a first look at footage from that film. Both the Valerian preview and The Fifth Element will be screened in 4k Ultra HD, the first time The Fifth Element has ever been seen in the format. Sony will also be releasing The Fifth Element on 4K Ultra HD in July.
Valerian stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as special operatives who must protect the astonishing city of Alpha from a marauding menace that threatens not just the city but the future of the universe. Besson both directed and wrote Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, as he did The Fifth Element.
Screenings of The Fifth Element are set for Sunday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 17, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time at theaters around the country. Tickets are available at fathomevents.com.
