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Meeting with Luc Besson on the occasion of the release of Valerian and the city of the thousand planets

Last night, during an event created by the Montreal Comic-Con, we met director Luc Besson around a discussion of his next film: Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets ...

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Last night, during an event created by the Montreal Comic-Con, we met director Luc Besson around a discussion of his next film: Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets ...

After unveiling exclusive footage of his new film for the lucky few who were able to attend the event, Besson was able to answer questions from his fans, about a work he prepares, in fact, long ago.

A short history…

First, Lucy's director explained that he is, from a young age, a lover of the comic Valerian, created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres. Also, while working on The Fifth Element with him, Mezieres often asked him why he did not want to create a movie from the comic that marked his childhood. But at this time, Besson felt that technology and special effects were not powerful enough to serve a work such as Valerian. He says "In Valerian, there are ten people and 3,000 aliens! It was impossible to represent at the time! " Therefore, the project remained unresolved in his mind for several years.

However, ten years ago, Besson returns to Valerian and began writing a first screenplay. Some months later, while he went to the cinema a December night, he made a rather exceptional meeting that would change his life, and especially his project : Avatar. The director then explained, "I left the theater, I went home, and I threw my script in the trash because I realized that I was far from a work like Cameron's." Luc Besson then resumes the script that taps for several years, but this time, having realized that now (almost) everything was possible in cinema.

A new film...

The project Valerian was thus launched, even though Lucy had not yet emerged. Besson obviously spoke to the two creators of comics, which were immediately delighted with the idea, and then launched into the new work. For graphic design worlds Valerian, director organized an international competition in several graphics schools, and selected five students (over 6000 applications) to work with him on the project. He then explained that he had made sure to work individually with each of them so their creation was more natural, and not influenced by the others. For costumes, he operated the same type of competition, and selected more than twenty young artists who participated in the creation of the 2,000 costumes for the film.

Besson's child's dream come true, as he was about to put in images something that had seduced him at a young age. Incidentally, the director of the Grand Bleu told us last night what was, for him, the most moving moment of the shooting : "We took Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres on set, and I made them come into the ship. They were totally moved, they did not know where to go. They hardly said anything. And at that moment, Cara Delevingne and Dane Dehaan arrived in stage costume to greet them, and I saw in the eyes of designers they were like kids: they saw Valerian and Lauréline take life for the first time!"
And for those who worry about their favorite comic being adapted into feature film, Besson added that Christin and Mézières have seen the movie, and they loved it. In sum, the fans should not be disappointed about the "adaptation" dimension of Valerian.

Valerian, and after?

The question that many burned lips at the event yesterday, is that of sequels. Number of fans asked Besson about it because he rarely make sequels to his films (whose endings are often a little "unresolved"), and especially if there will be a Valerian sequel. Incidentally, the director said that the future of Valerian depended on the film's success. However, he confessed he has already prepared the second and third movies. Moreover, he added that he believes the project is risky, since it is bringing to Hollywood a science fiction film that is "neither a Marvel or DC, nor a Disney " because if the audience sometimes tire of view (too many) sequels, they are reassured to pay a movie ticket when they know the license. And that's probably what prevents good movies a little more independent to come forward, facing the giant blockbusters.

However, even if he's right about people reassured by going to the movies from major film licenses, I would venture to say that a film signed by Leon's or The Fifth Element's director is also promising to me, if not more ...




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