Frédéric Forestier

Before finding his action niche and scoring opportunities to direct well-known celebrities such as action star Dolph Lundgren and French movie icon Gérard Depardieu, Frédéric Forestier entered the film industry in 1993 with his short film "Paranoïa," starring a pre-"Leon" Jean Reno. With only one more short film on his resumé, Forestier traveled to Canada and directed the 1997 Dolph Lundgren vehicle, "The Peacekeeper." With the tagline "Mass destruction just met its match," the film was a B-movie in every sense of the word, and Forestier turned down the opportunity to direct a potential three "Peacekeeper" sequels out of frustration with the cheap and quick nature of the American film industry. Next came single-episode directing gigs on the French series "Chambre n° 13" and "Les redoutables" before he returned to the action genre--this time on his home turf--with the 2002 comedy "Dead Weight." Co-directed with Alain Berberian, the zany buddy film was a smash hit in France, selling upwards of three million tickets. In 2008, Forestier helmed "Asterix at the Olympic Games," the third in a trilogy of outrageous adventure films based on the comic book series. Although the film continued in the tradition of the previous two entries and starred Gérard Depardieu as Obelix, it was panned by audiences and critics alike as the worst of the three films.