ODEON Magazine July 2017 | Page 4

The latest film news and previews from ODEON... Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets In the 28th century, an evil force threatens the peaceful city of Alpha... Directed by respected Parisian auteur Luc Besson (Léon, Lucy, The Fifth Element), this epic sci-fi actioner is based on the popular and hugely influential French comic Valerian and Laureline, which was first published in 1967 and follows the exploits of two spatio-temporal agents who traverse a far-future universe looking for adventure. And when we say far future, we mean far future; Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is set 700 years from now, in a vast metropolis known as Alpha. This incredible place is home to species from 1,000 different planets, who have converged from every corner of the cosmos to share knowledge and intelligence. But a dark force is threatening this peaceful realm and it’s up to Ministry of Defence agents 3 AUG ///FILM GOSSIP/// 4 odeon.co.uk Valerian and Laureline to save the day. As the tagline puts it: ‘A universe without boundaries needs heroes without limits...’ Boasting an all-star cast that includes Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Britain’s own Cara Delevingne as Laureline, plus Rihanna, John Goodman, Rutger Hauer, Ethan Hawke and Clive Owen, as well as some truly mind-blowing special effects (you’ll really believe you’re in the 28th century), Valerian has the potential to be one of the biggest films of not just the year, but the entire decade. Case in point: when Luc Besson (who, in bringing the Valerian and Laureline comic to life, is realising a long-standing dream) shared footage from the movie at last year’s San Diego Comic- Con, he received a lengthy standing ovation. Consider us excited. • Cosmic news for Guardians of the Galaxy connoisseurs, there will be a Vol. 3