TedStixon

Trivia: At one point Valerian mentions "I don't speak French." This is a bit of an inside joke, as the original "Valerian and Laureline" comic books are from France.

TedStixon

Trivia: In this film, at the start of the Big Market scene, a character named Hawker is told he has a "nice hat" by Laureline. In the 1997 film "The Fifth Element," a mugger is told he has a "very nice hat" by Korben Dallas. Both characters are played by Mathieu Kassovitz. Just a cute little inside joke you might not have noticed the first time.

TedStixon

Trivia: About 200 different alien species were created for the film. (Albeit, many of them were just created to be background characters).

TedStixon

Trivia: This movie was released on the 50th anniversary of the first "Valerian and Laureline" comic book, "Bad Dreams."

TedStixon

Trivia: The film opens with a short scene set in 1975. 1975 was also when the Valerian comic "Ambassador of the Shadows," upon which much of the film was based, was released.

TedStixon

Trivia: Despite the film being a disappointment at the box office, director Luc Besson has remained optimistic that a sequel could be made. He has stated that his plans for a second film would be a smaller story in terms of scope, and thus the film would cost considerably less than the original.

TedStixon

Trivia: Director Luc Besson was a huge fan of the original comic series, and making the film was one of his dream projects. He first thought about making the film in the mid-90's while working on "The Fifth Element", but opted to push it back due to the daunting visual effects work the movie needed, as he felt that he wouldn't be able to bring the comic to life properly at that time. It wasn't until after the release of James Cameron's "Avatar" over ten years later that Besson felt confident that the film could finally be made. The film finally debuted in 2017 - twenty years after he first seriously considered making it.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film was financed by director Luc Besson, who organized project backers and funding himself. With an estimated budget of somewhere between $180-$200 million, this makes "Valerian" not only the most expensive French film ever made, but also the most expensive independent film ever made as well, as it wasn't produced through traditional studio-funding.

TedStixon

Trivia: Igon Sirruss tells Valerian "I will find you and I will kill you," to which Valerian replies "Good luck." This dialog exchange is taken almost word-for-word from the film "Taken" as a bit of an inside joke, as "Valerian" director Luc Besson was also the producer and co-writer of the "Taken" film trilogy.

TedStixon

Trivia: Rutger Hauer receives prominent billing in the opening credits... however, he actually has less than sixty seconds of screentime in the entire film, and only appears in one scene during the film's opening ten minutes. He was cast for this cameo due to his notoriety within the sci-fi genre, as a playful homage by director Luc Besson.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film contains a few minor nods and references to director Luc Besson's previous film "The Fifth Element." This is quite fitting, as "The Fifth Element" was partially inspired by the original "Valerian and Laureline" comic books, and Besson even hired the original comic artist to help in the production design department for that film.

TedStixon

Question: Bubbles dies because she was wounded in battle... yet nowhere in the scene could I see her actually get hit or hurt. Am I missing something, or do we just not see the moment where she's mortally wounded?

TedStixon