Perhaps the most divisive movie of the summer, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was a verifiable box office disaster. The film barely took in a small percentage of its huge budget, crashing and burning with almost no hope of a sequel any time soon. Some loved the movie's boisterous style and others hated the casting of Dane Dehaan as the title character. However, Valerian definitely one of the most creative and visual arresting releases of the season.
Now, Luc Besson says there's still hope of a sequel. The movie still hasn't opened in many markets which means it could find success elsewhere. We won't hold our breath but this is what he had to say when speaking with Italian web mag, BadTaste:
“I value the Italian option. And there’s still Japan also to open. We still have a couple of countries. But so far there’s a huge, huge fanbase for Valerian. I’m very surprised. Like I receive messages every day, I mean like people screaming for Valerian 2 already. So there’s a community for sure. So it’s positive.”
In response to the film's underwhelming box office, he still remained positive:
“I wish for every director around the world to do this level of admission, you know? (Laughs) Because we’re like pretty high already. What happens today, you know it’s a little different than like 5 or 10 years ago. Because the way people consume the film is very different. Like people are very busy, so they go to the cinema, but you stay on screen like three weeks. Before when I start my movie like Fifth Element or Leon, you stay 12, 15, 20 weeks in theater."
So, like so many other large budget features, it seems like the creator is holding on to see how well this does in other areas of the world and its eventual home video release.
Share it.
Share it.