‘The Fifth Element’ Gets a 4K Anniversary Re-release With a ‘Valerian’ Preview Attached
It’s time to dust off your MultiPasses, Luc Besson fans: his wild sci-fi adventure The Fifth Element is coming back to theaters for a special anniversary re-release, and in 4K, no less. The 1997 movie is just about as weird as you can get with sci-fi, and it’s become something of a classic. But that’s not all — those of us who are excited for Besson’s new movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which hits theaters this summer, will get to see a sneak preview of it attached to The Fifth Element’s re-release.
The screenings are presented by Fathom Events and will happen for only two days: May 14 and May 17. The Fifth Element opened on May 7, 1997.
As an added bonus, the theatrical presentation will also offer audiences a brand-new, exclusive look at Besson’s upcoming film, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” which opens in theaters nationwide July 21, 2017. This new film stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as special operatives who must protect the astonishing city of Alpha from a marauding menace that threatens not just the city but the future of the universe. Besson both directed and wrote “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” as he did the enormously influential “The Fifth Element.”
If you’re not into the whole theater thing, the 4K Ultra HD version will go on sale on home video July 11. This is a cool pairing, not only because of the confluence of events that led to Valerian opening almost exactly 20 years after The Fifth Element did, but also because the French comic that Valerian is based on — Valerian and Laureline — heavily influenced Besson’s previous movie. Think of The Fifth Element as a trial run while Besson waited for the technology to catch up.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets hits theaters July 21.