Broadcast this Wednesday evening on TF1, the feature film “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” by Luc Besson offers a cameo to no less than eight French directors, from Alain Chabat to Louis Leterrier via Mathieu Kassovitz.
A blockbuster with an XXL budget of nearly 200 million euros, the SF epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by Luc Besson has an amusing particularity. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, the two young heroes of this adventure adapted from comics Valerian and Laurelineindeed rub shoulders with the credits… eight French directors!
From Alain Chabat to Louis Leterrier via Mathieu Kassovitz and Benoît Jacquot, focus on these Frenchies who appear briefly in Valérian, broadcast this Wednesday evening on TF1. Filmmakers who, for the most part, play captains of ships encountering extraterrestrial species in the introductory scene of the feature film.
Alain Chabat
EuropaCorp – VALERIAN SAS – TF1 FILMS PRODUCTION
We will not talk about a cameo for Alain Chabat, who is entitled to a real presence in Valérian. The Frenchman, quite unrecognizable with his thick beard, plays the sea poacher Bob who comes to the aid of Laureline. “He has a capacity for comedy which is incredible. I was sure he would make a good pirate”, declared Luc Besson to our colleagues from Figaro.
Eric Rochant
EuropaCorp Distribution
Eric Rochant was filming the series Le Bureau des Légendes in Luc Besson’s Cité du Cinéma at the same time as he was directing Valérian. Not complicated then to make a small appearance in the blockbuster: in the introductory scene, Rochant embodies the captain who welcomes the Palm Müret aboard the Alpha station.
Gerard Krawczyk
EuropaCorp Distribution
Gérard Krawczyk is a faithful accomplice of Luc Besson, for whom he notably directed three parts of the Taxi saga. In the feature film Valerian, he plays the captain who welcomes the Martapurais aboard the Alpha station.
Xavier Giannoli
EuropaCorp Distribution
Between 2015 and 2018, the director Xavier Giannoli (When I was a singer) is the godfather of a class of the Ecole de la Cité created by Luc Besson. In the introductory scene of Valérian, he lends his features to the character of Captain Norton.
Benoit Jacquot
EuropaCorp Distribution
Valérian benefits from a small appearance by Benoît Jacquot. In the introductory scene of the feature film, the director of Farewell to the Queen slips into the costume of the captain who welcomes the Arysums on board the Alpha station.
Olivier Megaton
EuropaCorp Distribution
Olivier Megaton, loyal to Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp company for which he notably signed Taken 2, Taken 3 and Le Transporteur 3, makes a small appearance in Valérian. At the beginning of the film, he plays the captain who welcomes the KCO2 on board the Alpha station.
Mathieu Kassovitz
Gaumont Buena Vista International (GBVI)
Two decades after a small role in The Fifth Element (photo), Mathieu Kassovitz finds Luc Besson for a cameo in Valérian, with a peddler character. A wink appearance very well hidden, no one having obviously managed to spot the Frenchman…