After a slow news week, there’s an intriguing new trailer that was released. Wouldn’t you know it, it’s another film adaptation of a graphic novel. The French science fiction film, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, is currently set for release next summer.
The film is an adaptation of the French comic, Valerian and Laureline. While it may not be as well known in the United States, it’s quite huge in Europe. It was first published in 1967 with the final installment being released in 2010. The comic series has won numerous awards and there are even numerous similarities from the comic that eventually popped up in the Star Wars film series.
The film version of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets features time traveling agent, Valerian (Dane DeHaan), and his partner, Laureline (Cara Delevingne), as they investigate a galactic empire. Going into the teaser trailer, the first thing you notice is how it looks a lot like a cross between The Fifth Element and the Mass Effect video game series. Well, Luc Besson, the director of The Fifth Element, is also directing this upcoming film. In fact, there are numerous plot similarities between Besson’s previous film and Valerian although the director claims he came up with the idea for The Fifth Element before some of the events from the comics.
While the teaser looks decent and the special effects are pretty, the cast is also impressive. The aforementioned DeHaan has been in featured roles in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Metallica’s Through the Never film project while Delevingne was a main character in this summer’s massively hyped critical flop, Suicide Squad. The rest of the cast is rounded out by veterans such as Clive Owen, Rutger Hauer, John Goodman, and Ethan Hawke. Pop star Rihanna also has a role in the film.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets opens on July 21st, 2017. Hopefully by that time they’ll make the title shorter as well. Check out the first teaser trailer and comment below.
