Luc Besson recently slammed the paparazzi, who have been going over the top in attempts to photograph Lucy star Scarlett Johansson in Taipei, Taiwan.
Besson is filming Lucy with Johansson in Taipei and recently complained about the press getting in the way of the shoot, The Associated Press reports. "We don't want pictures with new dresses of Scarlett," the Leon director said. "Sometime I lost a bit of my concentration because I'm bothered by that."
Besson added, "Shooting at nighttime was a nightmare" because of the presence of the paparazzi. He has been shooting for 11 days in Taipei. He also called out two agencies in Hong Kong for their existence around the film set.
But despite the frustrations, Besson says he never had plans to leave until done. "I read in the newspaper that I was ready to leave. This is wrong."
Variety reports that the Taipei Film Commission also denied the reports Besson would be leaving early.
A source had said after the reports surfaced, "The shoot is going very well. Every setup is on schedule. It will complete its full 11 days here." The press were doing their best to snag photos of Johansson in costume and even scared the star by punching the window of the car she was in.
Lucy was one of the biggest foreign shoots in Taiwan in awhile and so there was intense excitement and over the top coverage by the Taiwan press.
The AP notes that Lucy is about a woman (Johansson) who is a drug mule, that is ferrying a new drug serum that ends up giving her superhuman powers. There is no release date yet, and Besson refused to nail down any specifics as the movie is still in early days.