Luc Besson’sValerian and the City of a Thousand Planetsis a visual spectacle, but despite there being plans for more movies following the adventures of Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne), a sequel never happened. In 2017, Luc Besson brought his live-action version of the French sci-fi comic book seriesValérian and Laureline, by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières. The project stood out not just for its content but because of its budget and Besson’s efforts to get the funds for the movie. After some bumps on the road,Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetswas released in 2017.
Set in the 28th century,Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetsfollows Valerian and Laureline, two special operatives for the space station of Alpha.Valerian and Laureline are tasked with protecting the city from when a dark force threatens it, and they would not only be saving the city but the future of the universe as well. Given its source material,Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetshad the potential to expand with sequels and even more, but the movie never got a sequel, despite Besson’s plans for it.
Valerian & The City Of A Thousand Planets Was Too Expensive (& A Box Office Flop)
Valerian Holds An Expensive Record
It’s undeniable thatValerian and the City of a Thousand Planetsis visually impressive, but all those visual effects weren’t enough to win critics and audiences over.Valeriangot mixed reviews from critics and currently holds a 47% critics score onRotten Tomatoesalong with a 53% audience score, both labeling it “rotten.” The most criticized element ofValerian and the City of a Thousand Planetswas its story, which some found to be “boring” and not match the excitement of the visuals. However, the biggest obstacle toValerian’s future was its box office numbers.
Valerian Cast & Character Guide: Where You’ve Seen The Actors Before
Even though Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was a box office bomb, the Valerian cast is full of recognizable faces from the big screen.
Valerianneeded to gross $400 million worldwide to break even and be granted a sequel, but it only got to $226 million.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetswas made on a budget of around $180 million, making it the most expensive European movie and the most expensive independent movie ever made. With that in mind,Valerianneeded to gross $400 million worldwide to break even and be granted a sequel, but it only got to $226 million.Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planetswas a box office bomb, and this, along with its not-very-good critical reception, led to a sequel never happening.
The Potential & Ideas Were There
In 2017, before the release ofValerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,Luc Besson revealed he would have loved to make a sequel, saying that he was already writing a second movie. DeHaan later revealed thatBesson had spoken about making at least two moreValerianmovies, so that was the plan, though both mentioned the importance of the audience’s reception. A couple of months later, once the movie had been released,Besson shared he had the script forValerian 2and was working on the third.
In an interview withScreen Rantin November 2017,Besson shared he wasn’t planning on expandingValerianwith a TV series, andhis plan was to keep adapting the comic books into movies. Ultimately, Besson’s plans and scripts for moreValerianmovies never got a chance, andValerian and the City of a Thousand Planetsis the only adaptation of the comic books that Besson could bring to life.
