As soon as we learned Rihanna had joined the cast of Luc Besson's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, we started clamoring for a proper trailer. Thursday morning, our moment finally came. The first glimpse at the new sci-fi film from the acclaimed Fifth Element director shows stars Cara Delevingne, Dane DeHaan, and Rihanna doing predictably awesome space stuff with an unlikely soundtrack companion: The Beatles.
The use of the group's 1969 Abbey Road cut "Because," Varietynotes, is actually a uniquely historic move. "I'm so happy," Besson said of securing the rights to the track, marking the first time those rights have been granted. The track fits the mood of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, set in the 28th century during a period of human advancement in which we've successfully harnessed the ability to zip and zoom through time and space as we please.
Footage of Besson's film was teased at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, with Cinema Blenddescribing Rihanna's character as an "alien stripper." Ethan Hawke, playing a club owner, is said to have a pivotal scene with Rihanna in which he describes the establishment's dancers as "out of this world."
If this all sounds like kind of a stretch, then we must address two things:
- You have no imagination.
- You're forgetting how fucking cool The Fifth Element
wasis.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets opens next July.
