Luc Besson has been a visionary when it comes to crafting big-budget sci-fi pieces like Valerian And The City Of Thousand Planets that proved to be the most expensive independent film ever made at a budget of $180 million.
The film drew mixed reviews for its plot but there was praise for the vision and Besson's dedication to the genre. The behind-the-scenes facts explain the sheer scale and effort that went behind the film.
Two Hundred Alien Species
The world of Valerian features about two hundred different alien species, most of which were devised by writer-director Luc Besson himself. In fact, he wrote a page describing in detail the quirks and physical appearances of all these species.
The gargantuan book of six hundred pages was given to leading cast before production commenced so that they can be well-versed with the surreal extra-terrestrial world they would be acting in.
The Story Behind The Beatles Song
The first two trailers for Valerian featured "Because," a single by The Beatles, as its background score. The permission to use the song was granted by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sir Paul McCartney.
This marks the first time that a film director could obtain the rights for using a Beatles song in a movie ment. McCartney apparently gave him the permission quite easily as the singer loves Besson’s cinematic work, and he felt the idea for the 2017 film was ‘at least new and fresh.’
The Fifth Element Easter Eggs
Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element’s vibrant futuristic suburban look was also inspired by the Valerian and Laureline graphic novels. So, it would come as no surprise that he added deliberate Fifth Element references in his take on Valerian too.
For instance, Cara Delevingne’s character (Laureline) tells her commanding operative Hawker, ‘nice hat.’ The same compliment was given by Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) while he looks at a mugger with a hat in The Fifth Element. Both Hawker and the mugger were played by Mathie Kassovitz. Further, the movie features a gun that fires metal balls that automatically follow the first ball’s trail. This is similar to a feature in Zurg’s gun in The Fifth Element.
James Cameron Gave Besson Inspiration And Inferiority
A big fan of the original graphic novel series, Luc Besson wished to have made Valerian long back but refrained from doing so. The Herculean task he faced was to create a film that has such a high alien-to-human ratio. When James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar released and revolutionized VFX and motion-capture animation, Besson felt inspired to start with his vision too. "The film proved that imagination is the only limit," he said.
However, Cameron’s film also set a really high standard for Besson, making him re-analyze his script. He rewrote the film many times after this and spent about seven months in storyboarding.
Making The Film In English Was An Expensive Move
The principal shooting of Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets commenced in but this proved to be a costly affair. Even though Besson’s film had created jobs for 1,200 crew , he was unable to benefit from tax credits. Ordinarily, he would have been offered the benefits if he shot the film in French, rather than English. There were certain tweaks made to the criteria later to obtain these tax credits.
Back in the 1990s too, Besson’s The Fifth Element was produced at 75 million euros, making it the most expensive French film of the time.
Rutger Hauer Received Top Billing For A One-Minute Cameo
Dutch actor Rutger Hauer appears in the film as World State Federation President, a role that features his presence for just a minute. And yet Luc Besson was pretty excited to have him on board, as Hauer is beloved in the sci-fi community for his antagonistic role in the cyberpunk classic ‘tears in the rain’ monologue (based on dialogues that the actor improvised himself).
The actor received top billing for his minor appearance as he was introduced in the opening credits too, with the special mention ‘and Rutger Hauer.'
Dane DeHaan’s Sword Fighting Knowledge Came To Use
For the action sequences in the film, Dane DeHaan, who plays the titular hero, had to master certain fighting styles and martial arts, sword fighting being one of them. He was expected to physically train for about two months for this.
The actor confidently asserted that he didn’t need the training after showing his basic sword fighting skills in three sessions. He had already spent some time acting with swords back in his theatre school days.
A Taken Reference
Taken, the 2008 action thriller starring Liam Neeson, was produced and written by Luc Besson. Besson’s screenplay for Valerian also references a famous exchange of dialogues from Taken.
In one specific scene, the alien character Igon Siruss (voiced by Laurent Ferraro) threatens the protagonist Valerian by saying, "I will find you, and I will kill you." Valerian smartly responds, "Good luck." In Taken, Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills threatens the kidnappers of his daughter with the very same lines on a phone call.
The Reason For Laureline’s Hair Change
In the comics, Sergeant Laureline’s hair often sports a reddish hue. However, in the film, Besson decided that actress Cara Delevingne should retain her natural blonde hair.
The reason for this was to avoid any comparisons with Milla Jovovich’s role in The Fifth Element. The model-actress played the orange/red-haired Leeloo in the 1997 film. Besson on the other hand, wanted Delevingne’s character to have a more original identity.
An Orchestral Rendition Of Gangsta’s Paradise
One of the trailers for Valerian featured an orchestral rendition of "Gangsta’s Paradise," the cult hip-hop song by Coolio and LV. This cover was composed by -based music duo 2WEI. The original song in itself was produced for the soundtrack of the 1995 film Dangerous Minds.
2WEI are some of the leading composers for trailer music, earning royalties off their orchestral compositions in the trailers for Darkest Hour, Ghost in the Shell, Wonder Woman, and many others.
