The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Luc Besson's The Messenger is a fairly underrated dramatic action film about Joan of Arc. Although not perfect, I found this one to be much better than what most critics have said about it. Looking to watch The Messenger? Find out where The Messenger is streaming, if The Messenger is on Netflix, and get news and updates, on Decider.
Home > UNIVERSITY-PUBLICATIONS > MESSENGER > Vol. 1999 (1999) > Iss. 1
Complete Issue
Artwork
Classic
Keith Cunningham
The Exchange
Tim Hospodar
Untitled
Craig Bromley
Octopus Tree
Tim Hospodar
Untitled
Jason Gaccione
The Messenger 1999 Movie
How About a Box, a Pear, and a Grapefruit
Blythe King
Untitled
Beth Thomas
Hulgate, NJ
Joe Magliaro
Fiction
Smith
David Stanius
Untitled
Glennon Karr
Poetry
Joseph
Sharon Bricker
Epiphany
Christopher Robley
Train #99 (WAS-RIC)
. Anonymous
My Mind's Beauty
Darby Erbaugh
Anticipation
Carrie Kenady
Glorious Restoration
Krysti Sibley
Tonight
Brett A. Morgan
Hunting in Arcadia with my Grandson
Christopher Robley
Untitled
Barrett Emerick
Vowel Song (An Imitation of Rimbaud's Voyelies)
Carrie Kenady
Schizophrenia -- Welcome to Hillbilly Heaven
James MacCurtain
Restricted Access: Campus only
CREDITS
Untitled
Craig Bromley
Octopus Tree
Tim Hospodar
Untitled
Jason Gaccione
The Messenger 1999 Movie
How About a Box, a Pear, and a Grapefruit
Blythe King
Untitled
Beth Thomas
Hulgate, NJ
Joe Magliaro
Fiction
Smith
David Stanius
Untitled
Glennon Karr
Poetry
Joseph
Sharon Bricker
Epiphany
Christopher Robley
Train #99 (WAS-RIC)
. Anonymous
My Mind's Beauty
Darby Erbaugh
Anticipation
Carrie Kenady
Glorious Restoration
Krysti Sibley
Tonight
Brett A. Morgan
Hunting in Arcadia with my Grandson
Christopher Robley
Untitled
Barrett Emerick
Vowel Song (An Imitation of Rimbaud's Voyelies)
Carrie Kenady
Schizophrenia -- Welcome to Hillbilly Heaven
James MacCurtain
Restricted Access: Campus only
CREDITS
MESSENGER 1999
- EDITOR
- Tom Williams
- Assistant Editors
- Blythe King
- Joe Magliaro
- STAFF
- Dave Culley
- Laura Nazimek
- Andrew Chiacchierini
- Beth Thomas
- Saadia Iqbal
- Daniel Biegelsen
- Katherine Foret
- Tiffany Pender
- Irene Arce
- Carrie Kenady
- ADVISOR
- Dr. Joe Essid
- UNIVERSITY FACULTY
- Dr. Stephen Addiss
- Dr. Dona Hickey
- Dr. Angela Ball
- Directed By: Luc Besson
- Written By: Andrew Birkin, Luc Besson
- Release Date: November 12, 1999
- Domestic Distributor: Sony
- Cast: Milla Jovovich, Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich
Budget: $63 million | Financed by: Gaumont |
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Domestic Gross: $14,276,317 | Overseas Gross: $52,700,000 |
The Messenger 1999 Review
Luc Besson was attached as the producer of a Joan Of Arc project, which was to be directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who had been gathering research for nearly a decade. The Bigelow Joan Of Arc pic (Company of Angels) was in development at FOX and then moved over to Morgan Creek, with both Sinead O'Connor & Drew Barrymore at one point tapped to play the lead. In 1996, as the project was moving forward with negotiations with Claire Danes for the lead, Besson demanded that his then wife Milla Jovovich be given the part and Bigelow refused. Besson withdrew his support of the project and it went into turnaround.
Besson then allegedly stole Bigelow's research and began his own Joan Of Arc project, which became the major commercial failure The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Bigelow sued Besson and in 2000 he settled with her under confidential terms.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc was set up at Gaumont, which had backed all of Besson's projects since Subway (1985). Besson, Gaumont and Jovovich were fresh off the box office smash The Fifth Element (1997), which was at the time the most expensive and successful French production at the global box office. The budget for The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc was a pricey $63 million, fully financed by Gaumont and they landed a huge international distribution deal with Sony at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival — which purchased worldwide rights outside of France. Terms of the pre-sold rights package to Sony were not disclosed.
Gaumont handled the release in France and it disappointed with 2,967,029 tickets sold (about $17.6M).
The Messenger Movie
Sony dated The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc for November 12 and it bowed against Pokémon: The First Movie, Dogma, Anywhere But Here and Light it Up. Reviews were mixed, but Milla Jovovich's embarrassing performance was almost universally panned. The picture was dead on arrival with $6,360,968 — placing #4 for the weekend led by Pokémon. It plummeted 64.2% to $2,275,613 in its second frame and flamed out with just $14,276,317.
Joan Of Arc Film 1999
The overseas release pulled in $52.7M. The Sony markets (including US) saw $49.3M in receipts — which would return about $27.1M after theaters take their percentage of the gross, leaving much of the P&A expenses at a loss and their expensive acquisition cost in the red.