Valerian
Plus, director Luc Besson and star Dane DeHaan discuss bringing the classic space epic comic to the big screen.
Updated:
Mar 29, 2017 2:28 pm
Posted:
Mar 28, 2017 8:01 pm
I had a chance to check out the new trailer in advance earlier this week and then chat with Besson and DeHaan, and they both talked about Valerian’s deep dive into the sci-fi realm.
“It was a big part of my childhood, The Fifth Element,” DeHaan told a group of reporters. “And I think if there’s anything that helps me understand the aesthetic and the tone of [Valerian], it was The Fifth Element. I’ve seen that movie so many times. So that was my reference point really just for Luc making science fiction.”
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is set in the 28th century and tells the story of Valerian (DeHaan) and Laureline (Delevingne), a team of special operatives on a mission to the city of Alpha -- which, according to the official plot synopsis, is an “ever-expanding metropolis where species from all over the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence and cultures with each other.” There the two must solve the mystery at the center of Alpha… and safeguard the universe while they’re at it. The film is based on the 50-year-old French sci-fi comic by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières.“I started reading it at [the age of] 10 but I never thought about [filming] it,” says Besson. “At first because it was impossible -- you have two characters and 1,000 aliens, so how can you do it? It’s just impossible. I think it was probably just a part of my childhood. But then one day I hired Mézières, the guy who made the drawings for Valerian. I hired him on The Fifth Element and worked with him for six months. And he’s the one who bothered me and said, why are you doing this stupid film, talking about The Fifth Element. Why don’t you do Valerian? You say you love it, why you don’t do it?”
Mézières got through to Besson, who started to write what would eventually become Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. As CGI technology advanced, so did his chances of bringing the comic to the big screen, and now here we are. But, of course, Valerian is about much more than just creatures and outer space. That’s the big story, says Besson, but there’s also a little story.
“The little story is about this guy and this girl,” says the director. “And he desperately wants to get the girl. And the girl is very old-fashioned, saying I will have one man. He will be the father of my kids and that’s it. The rest… not interested. And it’s the story of the life of everyone! [Is] the guy gonna get the girl? … And I love the story, the little story, and I think it’s the mix of the two that makes it very human because everyone can relate. Even if somebody doesn’t like specifically sci-fi, at least [the movie] is funny.”Be sure to check back tomorrow for more on Valerian, as the new trailer for the film is revealed. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets stars Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, several other familiar faces and lots of crazy alien creatures. The film will be released this July.
Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura.