The Fifth Element was the most expensive European pocket ever made at the time of its filming.
Gary Oldman . Oldman went on to star as the antagonist of films such as True Romance ( 1993 ) , The Fifth Element ( 1997 ) , Air Force One ( 1997 ) , and The Contender ( 2000 ) , for which he garnered a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination ; corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield , whom Oldman portrayed in Léon : The Professional ( 1994 ) , has been ranked as one of cinema 's greatest villains . The Fifth Element . It stars Bruce Willis , Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich . Besson started writing the story that became The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old ; he was 38 when the film opened in cinemas . The film was a financial success , earning more than $ 263 million at the box office on a $ 90 million budget .