Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Shows Off Its Aliens in the Latest Trailer, Luc Besson Answers Fan Questions




Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets gets a new trailer that shows off more aliens civilizations.

The first trailer made many of us think back to Besson’s fantastic The Fifth Element but as Besson said in a reddit AMA today, this new film would not have been possible before now due to effects limitations. “I was very frustrated at the time of The Fifth Element because the VFX was ‘old fashioned’ and today the technology allows you to do anything you want,” he wrote, “the limits are your imagination. Valerian was not possible to make 10 years ago.”

Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan star but the film has an interesting cast which also includes, Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman, Rutger Hauer, and musicians Herbie Hancock and Rihanna. But I swear to god I’m hearing Cate Blanchett in this new trailer. I don’t see her name attached to this at all though so I guess she has a vocal twin…

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS is the visually spectacular new adventure film from Luc Besson, the legendary director of The Professional, The Fifth Element and Lucy, based on the ground-breaking comic book series which inspired a generation of artists, writers and filmmakers.

In the 28th century, Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are a team of special operatives charged with maintaining order throughout the human territories. Under assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two embark on a mission to the astonishing city of Alpha—an ever-expanding metropolis where species from all over the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence and cultures with each other. There is a mystery at the center of Alpha, a dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Based on the comic book series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières, Besson mentioned on reddit that he spoke to them regularly about the adaptation. “Mézières and Christin are the parents of Valerian, and I wanted to respect them. I kept them aware of the script, updating them regularly and I gave them the final the version that I liked,” he said. “They were very happy with it and offered some very useful and intelligent comments that I addressed in the script. It was not contractual but based on friendship and admiration for their work.”

Besson was also asked which volumes of the lengthy series he pulled from for the film. “The main volume that I used is the Ambassador of Shadows, but then I took some elements from other volumes. But you read a volume in 20 minutes and the film is 2 hours, so I also brought a lot of new ideas to the story,” he said. The director also mentioned just how long he’s been working to get this one on screen:

I started working on Valerian almost 10 years ago. The first step is to find the artists to do the conceptual drawings. I put out a call for artists to contribute designs and received 2,000 submissions. I picked 5 artists from that pool, who worked with me on the film for a year. That gave us the foundation for the world. Then when they went dry, I added 6 other designers for another year.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will hit theaters July 21, 2017.

7 Responses to “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Shows Off Its Aliens in the Latest Trailer, Luc Besson Answers Fan Questions”

  1. I’m trying hard to be intrigued by this, especially since the next Star Wars movie threatens to tell us the origin of Han Solo’s name and I kinda want to strangle someone.

  2. Barrie J Rosen says:

    So… not to nit pick, but why just Valerian’s name on the title card? It looks like Laureline was part of the original title and now the girl gets her name dumped? I love Luc Beson, I’m sure I’ll love the movie, but I suspect some old white guy in a suit made that call and it annoys me.

    • WheelchairNinja says:

      Because the title “Valérian and Laureline and the City of a Thousand Planets” would be an even longer and more ridiculous title? ;)

      • Barrie J Rosen says:

        How about just Valerian and Laureline then… like the comic? The whole ‘City of a Thousand Planets’ is pretty over the top. LOL

        • “City of a Thousand Planets” gives it immediate sci-fi recognition, that’s probably why.

          • Steven Moye says:

            That kinda works on it’s own I think. Preferable if the leads have reasonably equal importance to the story.

        • WheelchairNinja says:

          I know nothing about the comics, but for some reason I thought maybe they were siblings? If so they could use their last name; if not maybe Valerian and Laureline: City of a Thousand Planets? Or what about a cute couple name? Valeriline? Laurian? ;-P