Director Luc Besson Returns to Sci-Fi with ‘Valerian’
"The new sci-fi adventure will be Besson's first futuristic sci-fi film in 18 years. "
French filmmaker Luc Besson has been on a comeback lately. His last movie, 2014's
Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson, made a whopping $458.8 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film of his career. The movie was seen by many critics as a return to form for the director of classic 90s action movies like
La Femme Nikkita and
Leon: The Professional.
Riding his wave of current success, Besson has chosen his next project. According to
Variety, the director announced, via Twitter, that his next project will be the sci-fi adventure
Valerian, based on the graphic novel.
Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and Cara Delevingne (Paper Towns) will star in the movie, which marks Besson's first pure sci-fi movie since 1997's The Fifth Element. DeHaan and Delevingne will play the time-traveling Valerian and his sidekick Laureline.
The graphic novel — set in the 28th Century — was created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres in 1967 and has since sold over 10 million copies in 21 languages. Production is set to begin in December with a global release planned for the summer of 2017.