Casting on Luc Besson’s upcoming sci-fi feature Valerian continues apace today, with The Wrap reporting that Trumbo star John Goodman has boarded the project to voice a mysterious alien creature.
While the outlet didn’t disclose the specifics of Goodman’s extra-terrestrial, the role is another voiceover gig on the actor’s burgeoning résumé, given that he’ll also feature in Sony’s Ratchet & Clank animated film early next year.
Valerian, on the other hand, is much earlier in production. Eyeing a July 2017 release window, Besson’s latest – officially known as Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planet – is an adaptation of Pierre Christian and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres’ series of graphic novels, and may very well be the director’s most ambitious feature since The Fifth Element.
Having already cast Dane DeHaan (Valerian) and Cara Delevingne (Laureline) as a pair of time-travelling agents, the core premise centers around the partners in galactic crimes as they “help defend a utopian 28th century Earth and its neighboring planets from bad guys, with the pair’s adventures rooted in space opera and time travel themes.” Clive Owen, Boyhood and Good Kill alum Ethan Hawke and Rihanna are also involved in the sci-fi epic.
Early reports suggest that Besson’s Valerian has been allotted a production budget of $180 million, indicating that the finished product will be a CG-laden blockbuster, which ought to put the finest artists at Weta Digital, Industrial Light & Magic and Rodeo FX on standby.
Valerian has set its sights on a July 21, 2017 release date, and all signs point to Luc Besson setting up production as early as January of 2016.
