“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” (French: “Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes“) is a 2017 English-language French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson and co-produced by Besson and Virginie Besson-Silla.
The film is based on the French science fiction comics series “Valérian and Laureline“, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières.
“Valérian and Laureline” (French: “Valérian et Laureline”), also known as “Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent” (French: “Valérian, agent spatio-temporel”) or just Valérian, is a French science fiction comics series, created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières.
First published in Pilote magazine in 1967 (9 November 1967 in issue #420 of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote), the final installment was published in 2010.
All of the Valérian stories have been collected in graphic novel album format, comprising some twenty-one volumes plus a short story collection and an encyclopaedia.
Valérian is one of the top five biggest selling Franco-Belgian comics titles of its publisher, Dargaud
“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles.
Luc Besson independently crowd-sourced and personally funded Valerian and, with a production budget of over $209 million, it is the most expensive independent film ever made.
The film was released by STX Entertainment on 21 July 2017 in the United States and will be by EuropaCorp on 26 July in France.
Cast:
Dane DeHaan as Major Valerian, a space-and-time-traveling agent and Laureline’s partner/love interest
Cara Delevingne as Sergeant Laureline, a space-and-time-traveling agent and Valerian’s partner/love interest
Clive Owen as Arün Filitt, Valerian and Laureline’s commander
Rihanna as Bubble, a shapeshifting entertainer
Ethan Hawke as Jolly the Pimp
Herbie Hancock as Defence Minister
Kris Wu as Captain Neza
Rutger Hauer as the President of the World State Federation
John Goodman as the voice of Igon Siruss, a Kodar’Khan pirate captain and the galaxy’s most-wanted criminal
Elizabeth Debicki as the voice of Emperor Haban Limaï
Sam Spruell as General Okto Bar
Alain Chabat as Bob the Pirate
Thom Findlay as the voice of the Pirates
Mathieu Kassovitz as Camelot on Big Market
“Unpredictable and bonkers insane, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets uses sheer kinetic energy and visual thrills to overcome narrative obstacles and offer a surreal pleasures viewing experience!”
“Valérian and Laureline” comics series focuses on the adventures of the dark-haired Valérian, a spatio-temporal agent, and his redheaded female colleague, Laureline, as they travel the universe through space and time.
Valérian is a classical hero, kind, strong and brave who follows the orders of his superiors even if he feels, deep down, that it is the wrong thing to do. On the other hand, his partner Laureline combines her superior intelligence, determination and independence with sex-appeal. Influenced by classic literary science fiction, the series mixes space opera with time travel plots.
Christin’s scripts are noted for their humour, complexity and strongly humanist and left-wing liberal political ideas while Mézières’ art is characterized by its vivid depictions of the alien worlds and species Valérian and Laureline encounter on their adventures.
The series is considered a landmark in European comics and pop culture, and influenced other media as well: traces of its concepts, storylines and designs can be found in science fiction films such as “Star Wars and” “The Fifth Element”.
Many of the stories have been translated into several languages, including English.
The series has received recognition through a number of prestigious awards, including the Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême.
An animated television series, “Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline“, was released in 2007, and a feature film directed by Luc Besson, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets“, was released in 2017.
