Elizabeth Debicki’s rise toward Hollywood’s big leagues continues unabated.
The Aussie actress, who first appeared in The Great Gatsby four years ago, brought a ferocious sense of intensity to the role of Ayesha, Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign, in last month’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – with an added touch of humor, of course – and will soon be seen among Steve McQueen’s ensemble cast for Widows, along with the Cloverfield anthology film formerly known as God Particle. Look for that one to arrive in October.
But it seems Debicki still has room on the stacked schedule for another project: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The wildly ambitious space opera from EuropaCorp and Lucy director Luc Besson is gestating in post-production, and Variety now reports that Elizabeth Debicki has signed on for a last-minute voice role. Further details regarding her character weren’t disclosed, but we assume it’ll be some far-flung alien race that populates Besson’s City of a Thousand Planets.
Either way, Debicki now joins a cast that includes Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan as space-faring agents, along with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman, Herbie Hancock, and Kris Wu. It has all the makings of a spectacular, if financially risky creative venture, and you can find the updated synopsis below:
Valerian is based on a graphic novel — set in the 28th Century, when humanity discovered how to time travel — which was created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres in 1967, and has since sold more than 10 million copies in 21 languages. In the comics, Valerian (DeHaan) and Laureline (Delevingne) are agents of the Spatio-Temporal Service, which protects the planets of the Terran Empire.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets shoots for theaters on July 21st. But what do you make of the last-minute addition of Elizabeth Debicki? Let us know your preliminary thoughts below.
