Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Valerian and the City
of a Thousand Planets

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Luc Besson
Produced by
Screenplay by Luc Besson
Based on
Starring
Music by Alexandre Desplat[1]
Cinematography Thierry Arbogast
Edited by Julien Rey
Production
company
Distributed by EuropaCorp (France)
STX Entertainment (United States)
Lionsgate (United Kingdom)
Release date
  • 17 July 2017 (2017-07-17) (Grauman's Chinese Theatre)
  • 21 July 2017 (2017-07-21) (United States)
  • 26 July 2017 (2017-07-26) (France)
Running time
 137 minutes[3]
Country France[4]
Language English
Budget €197 million[5][6]
($177–210 million)[7][6][8][9]
Box office $89.4 million[9]

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (French: Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes) is a 2017 English-language French 3D science fiction action-adventure epic film,[7] written and directed by Luc Besson, and co-produced by Besson and his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. The film is based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières. It stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu, and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles. Besson independently crowd-sourced and personally funded Valerian and, with a production budget between $177–210 million, it is both the most expensive European and independent film ever made.[10]

The film was released by STX Entertainment on 21 July 2017 in the United States, and in France on 26 July, by EuropaCorp.[11][12] Valerian received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the writing and plot, but praised the visuals, and has grossed $89 million worldwide.[13]

Plot

In the 28th century, the former International Space Station has become "Alpha", a city where millions of creatures from different planets live peacefully and exchange their knowledge and cultures. The humans form a special police division to preserve peace through the universe, including officers Valerian, a happy-go-lucky major, and his partner Laureline, a no-nonsense sergeant.

En route to a mission, Valerian dreams of a planet where a low-tech humanoid race lives peacefully. They fish for pearls containing enormous amounts of energy, and use small animals to replicate them. Wreckage begins plummeting from the sky, and as the humanoids investigate the derelicts, one enormous ship crashes into the planet. A female humanoid, separated from her group after the door to the wreck being used as shelter breaks, manages to send out a telepathic signal just as the explosion consumes her and the surface.

Shaken, Valerian wakes. He learns that his mission entails retrieving a "converter", the last one in the entire universe, from a black market dealer. Before setting out, he asks Laureline to marry him, but she brushes him off, knowing of his many affairs with female colleagues and citing his inability to take things seriously.

Valerian disrupts a meeting between the dealer and hooded figures seeking the converter - the humanoids and the small animal from his dream, respectively. He and Laureline steal the converter, and he surreptitiously steals one of the pearls that had been given as payment for the dealer, hoping to gift it to Laureline as a wedding present.

They return to Alpha, where they are told by their superior, frosty Commander Filitt, that the center of the station has been infected by an unknown force, rendering it highly toxic, that troops sent into the area have not returned, and that the infection is spreading. Laureline and Valerian are assigned to protect the commander during a interstation summit convened to discuss the crisis. The commander asks for the converter, but Valerian says that Laureline should hold onto it while they are protecting him.

During the summit, the humanoids suddenly attack - incapacitating everyone before kidnapping Filitt. Valerian frees himself and the others and chases the kidnappers, who head for the infected area. Valerian loses control of his vehicle, and Laureline loses contact with him.

Evading arrest for insubordination, Laureline finds him unconscious at the edge of the infected area. She wakes him, but is kidnapped soon after by a primitive tribe that lives in the center of Alpha. Valerian infiltrates the tribe's territory with the help of a shapeshifting dancer, Bubble. He saves Laureline and they escape, but Bubble is mortally wounded. She encourages him to keep pursuing Laureline, before dying.

Valerian and Laureline venture further into the infected area, realizing that it is not radioactive, and reach a large, shielded hall where they find the humanoids holding Filitt. Their leader explains that his people lived peacefully on the planet Mül when a battle broke out between the human government's fleet and another alien race. The human commander, Filitt, ordered the firing of a doomsday weapon that, despite knowledge of civilization on Mül and the protests of his crew, annihilated both the enemy fleet and Mül, as seen in Valerian's dream, sent to him by the princess and daughter of the humanoids' leader. A small group of survivors sheltered in a crashed spaceship and managed to repair it, learning much about technology and the history of other races in the process. They eventually came to Alpha, where they assimilated more knowledge and constructed a spaceship that could recreate their former home, their "paradise". The hall they are standing in is that spaceship, and they have kidnapped Filitt in order to obtain the converter and the pearl they need to launch the ship. Filitt admits to his role in the genocide, but argues that the doomsday strike was nessecery to bring the war to a halt, and that the cover-up was necessary to prevent the human race from being expelled from Alpha, as well as prevent reparations that would bankrupt the human government.

Valerian has the pearl he took during the black market deal, and Laureline has the converter. Valerian gives them his pearl, but Laureline has to talk him into giving them the converter, since their mission was to retrieve it for the government. While the spacecraft is prepared for flight, Filitt's pre-programmed robot soldiers attack both the humanoids, the government soldiers sent to assist Valerian, and their support staff, but are defeated by the support staff and Valerian's efforts. The spacecraft departs with the duo onboard, while Filitt is arrested. In a final scene in their own spaceship, Valerian and Laureline confess their love and expect to land at their own paradise in two hours.

Cast

Delevingne, DeHaan and Besson at the San Diego Comic-Con 2016 presentation of Valerian and the city of a Thousand Planets, at Camp Conival

Production

Development

Although Luc Besson loved the Valerian comics growing up, he did not seriously consider adapting them into a movie until he was working on The Fifth Element. During development, Besson had tapped Valerian illustrator Jean-Claude Mézières to work on the film, who asked Besson, "Why are you doing this shitty film? Why you don’t do Valerian?"[17] At the time, Besson felt that making the film was "impossible" given the vast monster-to-human ratio.[17] The release of Avatar served as both a blessing and a curse for Besson; he has said, "technically, I could see that we can do everything now. The film proved that imagination is the only limit." However, he also felt that "James Cameron pushed all the levels so high," which made him believe that his script was not good enough, so he rewrote it.[17] Ultimately, the storyboarding for the film took seven months.[18]

The project was first publicly reported in 2012.[19] The two principal stars, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, were announced in May 2015.[20] On 19 August 2015, Clive Owen signed on to play Commander Arün Filitt in the film.[21] The budget, €197 million, is by far the largest ever assembled for a French film. Previously, Asterix at the Olympic Games was the most expensive, at €78 million, just ahead of Besson's The Fifth Element (€75 million).[22] By the end of August 2015, Besson said in an RTL radio interview that shooting the film in France was too expensive. Because it was filmed in a foreign language (English), Besson was unable to benefit from tax credits, despite preferring to produce the film in France and create jobs for 1,200 crew members.[22][23] The criteria to obtain these tax credits were then adapted accordingly. In May 2015, it was announced Fundamental Films would invest US$50 million in the film.[24]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on 5 January 2016 in seven sound stages dedicated to the film at the Cité du cinéma, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.[18][25] In total, there are 2,734 visual effect shots.[26]

Release

Valerian was released in Israel on 20 July, 2017,[27] on 21 July in the United States, and on 26 July in France.[28] Lionsgate handles the film's release in the United Kingdom and Ireland,[29] and STX Entertainment distributes the film in the United States.[30] The film will be released on 25 August 2017 in China.[31]

The first teaser for Valerian was released on 10 November 2016.[32] The teaser depicts Marmakas, Entertainers, Bagoulins, and Shingouz, who all appear in Ambassador of the Shadows. A special exclusive preview of Valerian was shown prior to the Fathom Events 4K restoration showing of The Fifth Element on 14 May and 17 May.[33][34]

Reception

Box office

As of 12 August 2017, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets has grossed $37.7 million in the United States and Canada and $51.7 million internationally (including $20.5 million in France), for a worldwide total of $89.4 million.[9] With a production budget between $177–210 million, the film will need to gross $350–400 million worldwide in order to break even and justify a sequel.[10][35]

In North America, Valerian opened alongside Dunkirk and Girls Trip, and was initially projected to gross $20–25 million from 3,553 theaters, although some insiders believed it would open in the teens.[13][36] It made $6.5 million on its first day, including $1.7 million from Thursday night previews at 2,600 theaters, lowering weekend projections to $16.5 million. The film ended up debuting to $17 million, finishing 5th at the box office, leading Deadline.com to already label it a domestic box office bomb,[37] and causing a 8.31% fall of the EuropaCorp stock on the following Monday.[38] In its second weekend, the film dropped 60% to $6.8 million, finishing 8th at the box office.[39]

Outside North America, the film opened in 16 markets alongside the US and made $6.5 million over its opening weekend, including $2.5 million in Germany.[40] In France, the film made $3.72 million (€3.19) on its first day, the second-best opening day of 2017 there behind Despicable Me 3.[41]

Critical response

Valerian received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its visuals while criticizing the plot and some of the casting.[13] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets uses sheer kinetic energy and visual thrills to overcome narrative obstacles and offer a viewing experience whose surreal pleasures often outweigh its flaws."[42] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has a score of 51 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[43] On French entertainment information website AlloCiné, the film has an average grade of 3.1/5, based on 29 critics.[44] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[37]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a grade of B-, praising how "unapologetically idiosyncratic" the film is, while also saying "the vividness of this place only underscores the lifelessness of the people leading us through it .... There are 394 million stories on the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian’s might be the only one we’ve seen before. Still, any excuse to visit this place is one worth taking."[45] Peter Sciretta of /Film touted the first half of Valerian as "unpredictable and bonkers insane", while calling the second half more formulaic and "far less exciting", though he still encouraged seeing the film in 3D "on the biggest screen possible".[46] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club opined that it was "rare […] to see a film this extravagant that also feels, for better or worse, like the work of a single personality. The longer action scenes may not always rank with Besson’s early ’90s highlights [...] or the mania of the more recent Lucy, but there isn’t a moment in this ludicrous, lushly self-indulgent movie that doesn’t feel like its creator is having the time of his life."[47]

Conversely, Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave a negative review, saying: "The Razzies don't need to wait until the end of the year to anoint a winner for 2017 ... Hollywood studio chiefs can breathe easy that, this time, at least, they'll escape blame for making a giant summer franchise picture that nobody wants to see, since this one's a French import."[48] A. O. Scott of The New York Times was also less than happy with the film, writing the effort "feels as if it were made up on the spot, by someone so delighted by the gaudy genre packaging at his disposal that he lost track of what was supposed to be inside."[49]

References

  1. ↑ Cabin, Chris (20 September 2016). "Alexandre Desplat Moves from ‘Rogue One’ to ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’". Collider.
  2. ↑ Hopewell, John; Keslassy, Elsa. "Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp Posts $31 Million Loss in ‘Transition Year’". Yahoo!. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets [2D] (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets". UniFrance. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "Luc Besson: «Valérian, le film français le plus cher de tous les temps»". Le Figaro. 14 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 "'Dunkirk' and 'Valerian' Bring Big Budgets to the Weekend, but Will They Bring Big Box Office?". Box Office Mojo. 20 July 2017.
  7. 1 2 Winfrey, Graham (7 July 2017). "‘Valerian’: How Luc Besson Made a $180 Million Indie That Can’t Fail". IndieWire. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  8. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (23 July 2017). "Box Office: 'Dunkirk' Conquers Competition With $50.5M Debut; 'Valerian' Bombs". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Can the Most Expensive Indie Movie Ever Break Even?". The Wall Street Journal. 16 July 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 McNary, Dave (6 December 2015). "Ethan Hawke Joins Luc Besson’s ‘Valerian’ Movie". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (12 December 2015). "Luc Besson Announces That Herbie Hancock Is Joining ‘Valerian’". Deadline.com. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 "'Dunkirk' likely to win rare box-office battle of original big-budget movies". Los Angeles Times. 19 July 2017.
  14. ↑ Besson, Luc (15 December 2015). "Excited to announce Kris Wu in @ValerianMovie!". Twitter. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Image of Igon Siruss
  16. ↑ Valerian Casts Guardians of the Galaxy 2’s Elizabeth Debicki in Voice Role
  17. 1 2 3 Fleming, Mike Jr. "Luc Besson Lays It On The Line For Passion Pic ‘Valerian’ — Deadline Disruptors". Deadline. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  18. 1 2 Rogers, Adam (7 June 2017). "Luc Besson Tests the Outer Limits With Sci-Fi Epic Valerian". Wired. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa. "Luc Besson to write-direct ‘Valerian’ adaptation". Variety. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  20. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (12 May 2015). "Luc Besson To Direct ‘Valerian’ In Return To Sci-Fi Roots". deadline.com. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  21. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (19 August 2015). "Clive Owen Set By Luc Besson For ‘Valerian’". deadline.com. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Luc Besson threatens to film ‘Valerian’ abroad over French tax credits". France 24. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  23. ↑ Richford, Rhonda (14 September 2015). "Luc Besson's 'Valerian' to Shoot in France After Incentives Tweak (Report)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  24. ↑ Jaafar, Ali (18 May 2015). "Fundamental & EuropaCorp Extend Output Deal For 5 More Years, Includes $50 Million Investment In ‘Valerian’- Cannes". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  25. ↑ Perry, Spencer (4 January 2016). "Cara Delevingne Photo from the Set of Valerian". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  26. ↑ Luc Besson Says Making 'The Fifth Element' Was a 'Nightmare' Compared To 'Valerian'
  27. ↑ "Valerian Movie: Ultimate Nerdgasm - Shalla-Bal". Shalla-Bal. 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  28. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (18 May 2015). "Luc Besson’s Sci-Fi Epic 'Valerian' Gets Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  29. ↑ Alex Ritman (10 February 2016). "Lionsgate Takes Luc Besson's 'Valerian' for U.K.". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  30. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike; Busch, Anita (3 January 2017). "STX Lands Luc Besson’s ‘Valerian’ And Other EuropaCorp Titles In 3-Year Pact; RED Hit With Massive Layoffs". Deadline.com. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  31. ↑ "Luc Besson’s ‘Valerian’ Gets China Release Date In Late August". Deadline.com. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  32. ↑ Taylor, Drew (8 November 2016). "The 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' Trailer Will Blow Your Mind". Moviefone. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  33. ↑ Gettell, Oliver (7 April 2017). "The Fifth Element heading back to theaters with Valerian preview". Entertainment Weekly.
  34. ↑ "The Fifth Element: 20th Anniversary". Fathom Events. 14 May 2017.
  35. ↑ "Not a Marvel Movie: 'Valerian' Director on His Epic and Expensive Sci-Fi Adapted From a Graphic Novel". Newsweek. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  36. ↑ "Can ‘War For The Planet Of The Apes’ Conquer The Summertime Franchise Blues? – Advance B.O. Forecast". Deadline.com. 4 July 2017.
  37. 1 2 "‘Dunkirk’ Seizes $50.5M; ‘Girls Trip’ Is Malcolm D. Lee’s Highest Opening; The Reasons Why ‘Valerian’ Crashed". Deadline.com. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  38. ↑ "EuropaCorp Stock Falls After 'Valerian' Bombs". hollywoodreporter.com. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  39. ↑ "‘Dunkirk’ Marches Ahead Of ‘Emoji Movie’ For Top Spot With $28M+". Deadline.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  40. ↑ "‘‘Dunkirk’ Takes Box Office By Storm With $55.4M No. 1 Spot For $105M+ Global Opening; ‘Valerian’ $23.5M Start". Deadline.com. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  41. ↑ "Valerian’ Takes Flight In France With 2nd Best Opening Day Of 2017". Deadline.com. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  42. ↑ "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  43. ↑ "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  44. ↑ "Critiques Presse pour le film Valérian et la Cité des mille Planètes". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  45. ↑ Ehrlich, David (11 July 2017). "Review: ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ Is Like ‘Star Wars’ on Crystal Meth, and It’s Almost Crazy Enough to Work". IndieWire. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  46. ↑ Chitwood, Adam (29 June 2017). "First ‘Valerian’ Reactions Praise the Spectacle, Creatures, and World-Building". Collider. Complex Media Inc. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  47. ↑ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (Jul 14, 2017). "Luc Besson’s space romp Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets is fun if you can stand the dumb". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  48. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (10 July 2017). "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  49. ↑ Scott, A. O. (20 July 2017). "Review: ‘Valerian’ Is a Rave in Space (but Not Much Fun)". New York Times. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
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