Tired of adaptations based on American comics? Think there's too much Marvel and DC around? If the answer is yes, you definitely want to see this movie next year. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will seek to break the hegemony with an adaptation of the French comic Valérian et Laureline, and both its script and direction will be in the hands of the man himself, Luc Besson, whom we know from Léon and The Fifth Element.
Fortunately, the paths of science fiction do not lead only to the United States, which means we still have a gigantic amount of material to explore. The magic of the Web has made the world smaller, and today it is very easy to access both the content itself and very faithful translations that can have an official profile, or be in charge of the fans themselves. The problem is that many independent projects that are obscure in the media are displaced by the advertising monsters that throw millions and millions of dollars at their cinematic and/or extended universes. Without going further, Marvel has eight movies to release in the next three years, while DC will do ten in a similar period. If you feel you need a breather, perhaps you could opt for Valerian:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zqtH4-ehgE0What is Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets?
Valerian is in this case a simple abbreviation of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, a film adapted and directed by Luc Besson, the same one from Léon and The Fifth Element. I say 'adapted' because the basis for Valerian comes from the French comic Valérian et Laureline, which was published for more than forty years and translated into dozens of languages. Although it is not the first effort that seeks to bring Valerian's content to the screen (big or small), it is undoubtedly the most ambitious. In general terms, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets tells us the story of two futuristic special agents (Valerian and Laureline), whose objective will be to discover the mysteries behind the intergalactic city Alpha, home to almost twenty million inhabitants representing a wide number of extraterrestrial species. The apparent harmony of Alpha profiles the place as a paradise, but let's say that Valerian and Laureline are going to end up facing much more than they could handle on their own.
Cast and release details
Reviewing the cast, several names emerge: Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) will play Valerian, Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad) will be Laureline, the great Clive Owen will assume the role of 'The Commander', and then we find Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, and another eternal jewel of science fiction like Rutger Hauer. Don't let appearances deceive you: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets has a budget of 170 million euros on its shoulders, and if it hits the mark, we will surely see more. Its release date is July 21, 2017, so it will have to compete with Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes and The Dark Tower.
(Editor's note: The film does not yet have an official portal, and I am told that the song in the video is 'Because' by The Beatles. It would be the first time that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr would have authorized the use of the band's material for a trailer.)
