Xavier Gens (; born on ) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer.

Career

Gens directed three short films in his native language, ''BTK – Born to Kast'' (2000), ''Au petit matin'' (2005) and ''Sable noir'' (2006), before being hired by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

to direct his debut English-language film, ''

Hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

'' (2007). The same year, he directed his first French-language feature, ''

Frontier(s) ''Frontier(s)'' () is a 2007 French-Swiss independent horror film written and directed by Xavier Gens in his feature length debut and stars Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Estelle Lefébure, and Samuel Le Bihan. It follows a group of young cri ...

''. In October 2007, a few weeks before the film's release, reports came in that Fox had turned down the version that Gens submitted to them. Nicolas de Toth was brought in to edit the film for commercial purposes and the studio ordered reshoots. While the studio denied claims that Gens had been fired due to the extreme violence in his cut, and insisted that he was still on the project, some reports stated that Gens was not even in the country as these reshoots were being made. Despite being critically panned, ''Hitman'' was a success with a gross of $92 million, Gens' most successful film. He narrated and produced the French

zombie film A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror ...

La Horde ''The Horde'' () is a 2009 French horror film co-written and directed by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher. It stars Claude Perron, Jean-Pierre Martins, Eriq Ebouaney and Aurélien Recoing. Plot A group of French policemen embark on a mission of ...

'', directed by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher. The film was released in 2009 and distributed by IFC Films. Gens directed '' The Divide'' (initially titled ''The Fallout''), his second English-language film, which features

Michael Biehn Michael Biehn ( or ; born July 31, 1956) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in ''The Terminator'' (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in ''Aliens (film), Aliens'' (1 ...

in the lead role. On television, he has directed episodes of ''

Crossing Lines ''Crossing Lines'' is an internationally co-produced crime drama television series created and executive produced by Edward Allen Bernero and Rola Bauer. The series premiered on June 9, 2013, at the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo. ...

'' (2014), '' Gangs of London'' (2020), '' Mortel'' (2021) and ''

Lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centres of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centres occur in No ...

'' (2023). In 2024, his

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

shark-themed film, ''

Under Paris ''Under Paris'' () is a 2024 French disaster film directed by Xavier Gens, who it with Yannick Dahan, Maud Heywang, Yaël Langmann and Olivier Torres. It stars Bérénice Bejo as a grieving marine biologist who is forced to face her tragic pa ...

'', became what was described as "the popcorn film of the summer". The same year, alongside Vincent Roget and

Eric Lavaine The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

's banner Sameplayer, Gens launched a new production company called Good Players.

Filmography

Short films Feature films Acting roles * ''Le Bon, la Brute et les Zombies'' (2004) * ''Lady Blood'' (2008) * ''

'' (2009, voice only) Television Other credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gens, Xavier 1975 births Living people French film directors People from Dunkirk French male film actors French horror film directors