TedStixon

Trivia: Gary Oldman did the movie as a favor to Luc Besson, who helped him raise money for another film he was trying to make. Oldman reportedly wasn't too keen on the film... in fact, he hated it and didn't understand why so many people found it appealing. When asked what he thought about it being a major cult-classic in an interview once, he simply laughed and said, "I know, I know... that's just the wacky world we live in!"

TedStixon

Trivia: The giant indoors explosion at Fhloston Paradise was actually the largest indoor explosion ever filmed. It was so huge, the fire actually almost burned down the soundstage, and it took nearly a half-hour to get it under control.

TedStixon

Trivia: Model and actress Maïwenn wasn't originally supposed to play the diva. However, for whatever reason, the original actress cast just... never showed up for filming. Since Maïwenn was married to director Luc Besson at the time and was around set, she was recruited to fill in for the part at the last minute.

TedStixon

Trivia: The Zorg ZF-1 Pod Weapon would later make a cameo in the DC comics movie "Blue Beetle", as a weapon briefly conjured up by the Blue Beetle suit.

TedStixon

Trivia: So much material was reportedly cut from the original script (which was hundreds of pages), that director Luc Besson and co-writer Robert Mark Kamen wanted to use the cut content as the basis for a sequel. However, according to Kamen, despite the film being profitable thanks to the international box office, the American box office was somewhat lower than expected, so the sequel was never made.

TedStixon

Trivia: Writer Robert Mark Kamen was brought in by the studio to help director Luc Besson with the script, which was hundreds of pages and contained numerous characters and subplots. Kamen took a meeting with Besson where he basically told him over and over that the script was unintelligible, angering Besson. Kamen thought he had burned the bridge, but to his surprise, Besson called him later and asked him to help rewrite the script. Kamen helped him condense it into a more acceptable length.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film was one of the first movies Sony released on the high-definition Blu-ray format in 2006. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray was considered a disaster due to a poor remaster that looked essentially indecipherable from the standard-def DVD. It was so widely hated that a year later, Sony released a replacement Blu-ray with a new HD remaster, and offered free copies to anyone who bought the original release. Thankfully this second Blu-ray was widely praised for its (much) better picture quality.

TedStixon

Trivia: It has been speculated by some that Ruby Rhod's name was derived from the natural elements Rubidium and Rhodium... two elements which are both classified as "Period 5" elements, which would fit perfectly with the title "The Fifth Element." This theory has never been confirmed or denied by the cast or crew.

TedStixon

Trivia: The weird, jittery parasites that are on the bottom of the shuttle to Fhloston Paradise are actually an incredibly simple effect. They're Bumble Balls, an early 90's pre-school toy that shake, jitter and roll around with an inner motor. They were simply dressed up with fleshy rubber "prosthetics" to make them look like parasites. There's also a rumor that pieces of "Boglins," an 80's line of grotesque toy puppets, were used to dress up some of the "parasites" as well.

TedStixon

Trivia: Director Luc Besson originally wanted musician Prince to play the part of Ruby Rhod. However, Prince turned down the part only because (despite his own peculiar fashion sense) he felt the costumes designed for the character were a little too strange and effeminate for his tastes.

TedStixon

Trivia: Director Luc Besson wanted Bruce Willis for the part of Korben Dallas, but decided to go with a lesser-known actor in order to save money. Upon being informed, Willis told Besson that they could "work something out" if he liked the script. Willis read the script, loved it, and agreed to do the film for a reduced upfront paycheck.

TedStixon