Rihanna Boards Luc Besson’s Sci-Fi Epic ‘Valerian’
Luc Besson’sValerian and the City of a Thousand Planetshas scooped up a huge star on its way to outer space.Rihannais climbing aboard the sci-fi adventure in a “big” role, joiningDane DeHaan,Cara Delevingne, andClive Owen. See the RihannaValeriancasting announcement after the jump.
Besson himself broke the RihannaValeriannews onInstagram.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetsstars DeHaan as the eponymous Valerian, an intrepid spatio-temporal agent for the Galaxity organization. Delevingne is his beautiful, sharp-witted partner Laureline. Owen will play a character named Commander Arün Filitt. Further details on Rihanna’s role have not been given. In fact, we don’t even know if she’s playing a human — the film has only a small handful of human characters (Valerian and Laureline are two of them) and several crazy-looking alien creatures.
The film is based on the long-running comic seriesValérian and LaurelinebyPierre ChristinandJean-Claude Mézières. The latter did design work for Besson’sThe Fifth Element, so it shouldn’t come as surprise thatValerianis being described as “Star WarsmeetsBlade Runnermeets Besson’sThe Fifth Element” in terms of its visuals.
Pop star Rihanna has begun fleshing out her acting resume over the past couple of years. She made her feature film debut with a (very) small role inBattleship, followed by a cameo inThis Is the End. This year’s animated adventureHomegave her more to do, as she got to voice the lead character Tip. But it still seems too early to pass judgment on her abilities as an actress. MaybeValerianwill give her more of a chance to show off her chops.
One thing’s for sure, though: Rihanna is an A+ clothes-wearer, and so is Delevingne. By which I mean both of them have the uncanny ability to rock even themostinsanegetups, and make it look effortless. We don’t yet know what costume designerOlivier Bériothas in store forValerian, but if his looks aren’t at leastFifth Element-level crazy, it’ll be a real waste of everyone’s talents.
Oh, and speaking of the costumes – if you have thoughts on what the denizens of Besson’s epic intergalactic universe should be wearing, consider submitting some designs to theValeriancostume contest. Pitch video below, anddetails here.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand PlanetsarrivesJuly 21, 2017.
