Directed by Luc Besson Music by Alexandre Desplat | Screenplay by Luc Besson | |
Produced by Luc Besson
Virginie Silla Based on Valérian and Laureline
by Pierre Christin
Jean-Claude Mézières Starring Dane DeHaan
Cara Delevingne
Clive Owen
Rihanna
Kris Wu
John Goodman
Ethan Hawke | ||
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (French: Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes) is an upcoming 2017 English-language French science fiction action film produced, written and directed by Luc Besson. The film is based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières. It stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline. The film is scheduled for release by STX Entertainment on 21 July 2017 in the United States and on 26 July in France.
Contents
Plot
In the 28th century, Valerian and Laureline are special operatives charged with keeping order throughout the human territories. On assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two undertake a mission to Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis where species from across the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence, and cultures. At the center of Alpha is a mysterious dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.
Cast
Development
In 2012, it was announced that Luc Besson planned to make a movie for the big screen of the French comic series Valérian and Laureline, published in 1967, sold 10 million copies and translated into 21 languages. On 12 May 2015, Besson revealed in his very first tweet that he would write and direct Valerian film, while Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne would star. DeHaan and Delevingne would play the titular roles, space and time-traveling agents from a futuristic Earth. On 19 August 2015, Clive Owen signed on to play Commander Arün Filitt in the film. This film marks the return of the director to space opera, twenty years after The Fifth Element, and confirms its appeal to the genre of science fiction, especially after Lucy's worldwide success in 2014. The budget of €197 million is by far the largest ever assembled for a French film. Asterix at the Olympic Games was the most expensive with a budget of €78 million, just ahead of Besson's The Fifth Element (€75 million). By the end of August 2015, Besson said in a RTL radio interview that shooting the film in France was too expensive. Because it was shot in a foreign language (English), Besson was unable to benefit from tax credits despite preferring to produce it in France and create jobs for 1,200 crew members. The criteria to obtain these tax credits were then adapted accordingly. In May 2015 it was announced Fundamental Films would invest US$50 million in the film.
Filming
Principal photography on the film began on 5 January 2016 in the Cité du cinéma, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
Release
Valerian is scheduled to be released worldwide on 21 July 2017 by EuropaCorp before being released in France on 26 July 2017. Lionsgate will handle the film's release in the United Kingdom and Ireland. STX Entertainment will distribute the film in the United States.
The first teaser for Valerian was released on November 10, 2016. The teaser depicts Marmakas, Entertainers, Bagoulins, and Shingouz, who all appear in Ambassador of the Shadows.