Although Luc Besson has only occasionally ventured into the realm of science fiction, with films like ‘Lucy‘ and of course ‘The Fifth Element’ to his credit, he has nonetheless made a substantial mark on the genre. And now he is poised to do so once again, with his upcoming film ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets‘.
Based on the long-running French comic ‘Valerian and Laureline’, created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres (who collaborated with Besson, a longtime fan, on ‘The Fifth Element), the film follows Valerian and his partner/love interest Laureline, a pair of government operatives tasked with investigating Alpha, a vast, alien metropolis that may harbor a grave danger to human civilization. The first trailer for the film has been released and based on that trailer, neither that synopsis nor any other that I could write can do this project justice. Set to the Beatles ‘Because’, the trailer cultivates a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere, and showcases a plethora of aliens and creature designs that (unsurprisingly) call to mind the visual style of ‘The Fifth Element’. You can take a look for yourself here:
As interesting as the film itself is shaping up to be, the trailers also promise to be worth keeping an eye on, as Besson has stated that he intends to defy convention and avoid reusing the same footage between trailers. Indeed, the director has even gone as far as to say he doesn’t want to use the same shot twice in any of the three planned trailers.
What did you think of the first trailer for ‘Valerian’? Let us know in the comments and be sure to follow ScienceFiction.com for more on the film as it becomes available.
‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne alongside Clive Owen, Rihanna, Kris Wu, John Goodman, and Ethan Hawke. The film is scheduled for a worldwide release on July 21, 2017.
