Luc Besson and the folks at EuropaCorp must really be hoping their latest film, Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets, is going to be a hit. We say this because there's been a lot of love and care in the looks they've been giving to the movie going public when it comes to their sci-fi epic. It's most evident in the latest, and final, trailer to hit the internet, and you can see it for yourself below.
Now while there's not a lot of new material to look at, there is a lot of long, lingering shots of the environments that Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets will weave its tale throughout. All of the star fields, wild and strange creatures, and gorgeous shots of Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne making space their battleground are present and accounted for. However, we do get some first looks at the big bad spaceship that's looking to make paradise a little more like hell, and it's pretty daunting, as it looks a little bit like a spaceship made entirely of molten rock.
This new look at Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets sounds very familiar for two important reasons. The first is, naturally, the film's plot. What do you normally think of when you hear about a story of two people, a whole galaxy at stake and a tight deadline to defeat an evil that's ready to destroy all that we know and love? If you're thinking back to The Fifth Element, then you're absolutely correct, as Luc Besson took a lot of inspiration from Valerian's comic book source material to make that 1997 classic. Just don't expect this film to be a complete retread of that ground, as there's already some key differences that separate Besson's works.
Our other, and perhaps more interesting point of order, is the fact that if you listen very closely to the choral arrangement in this trailer, it sounds oddly like a fancy cover of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise." We thought it was crazy at first too, but try listening to the song again below, and then watch through the Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets trailer once more, courtesy of the Facebook embed above, to fully compare.
It's this mix of confirmed and potential influences that make Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets all the more exciting to behold, as a good, 90's inspired sci-fi freak out is what this franchise weary would could use. At least, that's what the folks behind France's most expensive film are hoping the case is, as they're clearly trying to dazzle audiences in coming to see the finished product. From where we're standing, it's working exceedingly well, as we're a little more amped up to see this world unfurl in front of us this summer.
Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets will make its magic known to moviegoers far and wide on July 21, in both traditional and 3D formats.
