French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has said that the arrest of the famous film director is a "bit sinister."
Polanski’s lawyer said he will challenge his client’s arrest and any attempts to extradite him to America where he is wanted for sentencing for having had sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Polanski had pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain but then fled the country to avoid the sentence and has been living in France since then.
French culture minister Frederic Mitterand said President Nicolas Sarkozy are both following the case.
Mr Mitterand also explained on France-Inter radio that both he and his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski have written to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about Polanski.
French daily newspaper Le Figaro quoted Polanski's lawyer as saying: "We will be demanding that he be freed. Then we will fight the extradition."
