If you’ve been following the trailers for Luc Besson’s upcoming space opera ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets‘ then you know it is based on a French comic, and now for Free Comic Book Day, we have a chance to get a preview comic of the film! Well, this 32-page comic isn’t a preview of the movie but includes the comics which inspired the plot and some exclusive behind-the-scenes moments of how the writer and director ended up bringing the movie to life.
The issue has been compiled by STXfilms, EuropaCorp, and Cinebook and will be free at your local comic shops on May 6th, 2017 when Free Comic Book Day sweeps the nation! The original series ran for 43 years which has been collected into a 23 full volume set for those who are looking to pick up Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières’s original work.
Besson has actually been in love with ‘Valerian and Laureline’ which is the original name of the comic years ago and has wanted to bring it to the big screen ever since. I can’t think of a better person than the man who brought us ‘The Fifth Element’ to be able to visually adapt this universe and can only hope that it is successful enough to spawn an ongoing franchise, or at the very least a sequel.
They clearly have the source material for it.
When Besson found out about the comic, he stated:
“It gives me incredible joy to finally bring to the big screen, 50 years later, the work of comic book creators Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières that originally sparked my imagination and set me on this incredible journey. I look forward to introducing a new generation of fans to the adventures of Valerian and Laureline.”
I love that he is still as excited about the comics after having a chance to create the cinematic version as a potential summer blockbuster.
Are you looking forward to checking out ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ when it arrives in theaters this July? Do you plan on picking up the preview comic to get an idea of what to expect? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Screen Rant.
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
