news culture A failure at $300 million. This French film should surpass Star Wars. Lost!
This is the story of a film that presented itself as the first true French blockbuster, intended to compete with Star Wars, the MCU and all current movie giants, and sadly ended up at the box office.
A French blockbuster
The French film system is considered one of the best in the world and offers many filmmakers the opportunity to realize their projects thanks to numerous financial support. The quality of French productions has always been praised worldwide. On the other hand, our dear country is much less famous for its large-format feature films. A “void” that Luc Besson wanted to fill with the launch of the film Valerian and the Thousand Planets.
International casting, XXL production, huge budget… the director to whom we owe the fifth element, Léon or even the big blue and Taxi, has launched a gigantic project to conquer the world box offices. Back then, the $230 million budget was bigger than movies like Thor: Ragnarok or Wonder Woman. Added to this are advertising costs, which unofficially amount to 300 million dollars. A colossal investment that unfortunately has not borne fruit.
Just a flop
The film, far from being poorly received by critics, failed to find its audience upon its release. Luc Besson’s feature film grossed $223 million at the 2017 global box office. The budget is still a long way from being paid back, a failure that almost caused Europacorp, the French filmmaker’s production company, to go under. Upon its release, the French blockbuster faced competition while Spider-Man Homecoming and Dunkirk dominated cinemas. The film is shutting down in the US, screens are gradually phasing it out. After nine weeks of exploitation, Valerian is finally leaving the cinemas.
A serious blow that definitively destroyed the development of the franchise based on the comic by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières. which at the time was considered a direct competitor to Star Wars. Obviously, Valerian and the Thousand Planets was a risky project. The development of an unprecedented franchise, which was also based on a little democratized work, presented a great challenge. Still, we have to acknowledge the film’s ambition, which remains entertaining to this day.
