Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a science fiction film adapted from a comic book.
In 2015, Luc Besson announced that he was going to make a film inspired by French comic strips Valerian and Laureline by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières. Sold in 10 million copies worldwide, these tell the adventures of two space-time agents responsible for maintaining order in the universe in the 28th century.
Two years later, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was released, marking the filmmaker’s return to the space opera genre, twenty years after The Fifth Element, and confirming his attraction to the science fiction genre, especially after the worldwide success of Lucy in 2014.
With a production budget of 197 million euros (ie more than 230 million dollars), it is the most expensive French film of all time – far ahead of the 78 million for the film Asterix at the Olympic Games.
However, it is also a historic financial disaster. Aside from poor reviews, pointing to the weak script, the lack of charisma of lead actors Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, and the uneven quality of special effects, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets grossed just $226 million. worldwide box office receipts.
The situation is such that EuropaCorp, Luc Besson’s production company, is placed under safeguard procedure in 2019. This then calls into question the director’s franchise project, whose initial ambition was to compete with American sagas. Star Wars and Avengers.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by Luc Besson with Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen…
Tonight on TF1 at 9:10 p.m.