News in for fans of Luc Beeson, Lionsgate UK have announced that they have UK rights to VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS which Luc Besson has written and directed. The film stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne and started principal photography in Paris on January 6th 2016.
Luc Besson based his screenplay on the French science fiction comic series “Valerian and Laureline” created by artist Jean-Claude Mézières and writer Pierre Christin. Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock and Kris Wu also star in the film.
“Valerian and Laureline” is a 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-hearted, 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, making her one of science fiction’s most notable heroines. 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 characterised by its vivid depictions of the alien worlds and species Valérian and Laureline encounter on their adventures. The series was a landmark in European comics and pop culture, and influenced other media as well – traces of its concepts, storylines and designs can be found on sci-fi films such as Star Wars, The Fifth Element, and Avatar. – Wikipedia
“We are thrilled to add such a unique and exciting project to our 2017 slate. Luc is a one-of-a-kind filmmaker and has a visionary way to bring stories to life, so we can’t wait to see how he brings Valerian to life for cinemagoers.” – Zygi Kamasa, Lionsgate UK CEO
Valerian (played by Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (played by Cara Delevingne) are special operatives for the government of the human territories charged with maintaining order throughout the universe.
Virginie Besson-Silla is producing the film on behalf of EuropaCorp, while Fundamental Films, alongside BNP Paribas, Orange, Universum Film, Gulf Film, River Road Entertainment, Belga Films and TF1 Films Production are the main co-financiers of the movie.
“VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS” is scheduled to be released in the UK in 2017 so we will be keeping a keen eye out on further information about this upcoming release.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
