The company was created by Luc Besson in 1992 under the name
Leeloo Productions, but it only fully began producing and co-producing feature films many years later, with the release of
Taxi and
The Dancer. The company was renamed EuropaCorp in 2000. Luc Besson had also created a smaller production company called
Les Films du Dauphin in 1990 that has existed outside of Leeloo Productions / EuropaCorp. Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, old associate of Besson from
Gaumont, the production company behind many earlier Besson's directed films, joined EuropaCorp in 2000. He had worked with Besson since 1985 first as a Distribution Director and from 1997 as a Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Gaumont. He became known as the right-hand man of Besson at EuropaCorp. He left the company in 2011 over disagreements with Besson. In July 2007, EuropaCorp successfully managed its
IPO on
Euronext Paris. EuropaCorp stocks dropped 17% to just €2.31 ($2.70) after the rape allegation. Later the same year, EuropaCorp sold its French television division to
Mediawan and renamed into Storia Television. EuropaCorp also agreed to sell the Roissy Films library to
Gaumont. The rape accusation resulted in a final dismissal by the
Court of Cassation in 2023. In May 2019, EuropaCorp was granted a six-month debt waiver from a French commercial court and placed under court protection. Its stock value had fallen to €0.67. It had no films in production. In December 2019, the company was $182 million in debt and it had been in long bailout negotiations with Vine Alternative Investments. In February 2020, the American investment fund
Vine Alternative Investments acquired 60.15% of the French group, and an American fund, Falcon Strategic Partners IV acquired 6.25%. In 2025 (and in 2026 for the United States), EuropaCorp released Besson's
Dracula, which became the company's biggest box office success since 2017. With over $40 million, it is the highest-grossing
French film of 2025. == Structure ==