Luc Besson

2017 is already shaping up to be a much more promising year for big studio blockbusters than 2016. In addition to the newly-titled Blade Runner 2049, we’re getting the Wolverine sequel (titled Logan), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming. For less conventional blockbuster fare, there’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Luc Besson’s long-developing sci-fi epic, which now has an official poster (along with a few new images).

When the news broke a few days ago that Michael Giacchino was replacing Alexandre Desplat as the composer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, one mystery remained: where would Desplat go next? Today, director Luc Besson revealed that the composer has moved on to his own film, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Back in 2012, Luc Besson co-wrote and produced the sci-fi action flick Lockout — better known to some as Space Jail, a title affectionately bestowed upon the film by the people of the internet. If you saw the film — or even just the trailer — then you probably noticed some very obvious similarities between Lockout and Escape From New York, John Carpenter’s classic film that basically has the same plot. You weren’t the only one.

Director Luc Besson’s latest project is yet another sci-fi film, but unlike Lucy, this one looks a bit closer in style and tone to The Fifth Element. Based on the classic French graphic novel series, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets has the potential to be quite epic, and hopefully we’ll get a better sense of what to expect when the film hits Hall H at Comic-Con later today. Until then, EuropaCorp has unveiled a new official image from the upcoming film, featuring a very determined Dane DeHaan.

One of the more intriguing upcoming blockbusters is Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (or just Valerian, for short), Luc Besson’s long-developing sci-fi film based on the classic French graphic novel series. Starring Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan as a pair of spatio-temporal agents, the futuristic new project shares some aesthetic DNA with The Fifth Element, as you can see in Besson’s collection of photos from the set.

Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich weren’t always meant to star in Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element. Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts were originally eyed for the leading roles, which would have made for a distinctively different film. (And one that may have lacked the alien language Jovovich and Besson invented for Leeloo.) But that wasn’t the only major change in casting — as Besson reminds us, the late, great Prince almost played Ruby Rhod.

Just yesterday Luc Besson debuted the first promotional image for his long-developing passion project, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, teasing a fitting return to sci-fi from the director of The Fifth Element and Lucy. Today brings more official photos from the upcoming project starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as a pair of time-traveling agents on a mission to protect the universe.

Between The Fifth Element and Lucy, Luc Besson has proven that he has some pretty visionary and ambitious ideas when it comes to sci-fi movies, and while they don't always work, they're never not interesting to watch. His newest sci-fi film is Valerian, a long-developing passion project based on a French graphic novel series, and today brings our first look at Besson’s latest effort.

Clive Owen. Dane DeHaan. Ethan Hawke. Noted supermodel/eyebrow possessor/Taylor Swift friend Cara Delevingne. Pop ubersongstress Rihanna. More than the lineup for the greatest night of drunken debauchery of all time, these five disparate souls have been united in the cast for Luc Besson’s newest sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets...

Luc Besson is assembling a rather interesting cast for Valerian, his ambitious sci-fi epic based on a French graphic novel series. In addition to Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne and Rihanna (seriously), the film has just acquired Ethan Hawke. While the actor definitely has plenty of sci-fi on his resume, it’s kind of surprising he hasn’t appeared in a Besson film just yet, since it seems right up his alley.