Director Luc Besson took to Instagram today to announce that Grammy Award winner Rihanna has joined the cast of his upcoming film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, in what he calls “a big part.” Rihanna previously made her big screen debut in Peter Berg’s 2012 film Battleship and has gone on to appear in Sony’s Annie remake, provided a voice in the animated film Home, and as “herself” in This Is the End. She joins a cast that includes Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, and Clive Owen.
In the story, Valerian (DeHaan) and Laureline (Delevingne) are exploring Syrte, capital planet of a system of 1,000 worlds. Their mission is to discover whether the Syrtians could present a danger to Earth. What they find is a decaying empire led by decadent aristocrats, a population ripe for revolution, and a mysterious caste of masked wise men who discreetly pull the strings from hidden fortresses. Swept up by the winds of history, the agents of Earth will have to choose a side.
Adapted for the screen and directed by Besson (Lucy, The Fifth Element), the film will be the most expensive film yet produced and distributed by his EuropaCorp banner. It is based on the French comic series “Valerian and Laureline” by Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières. Created in 1967, the comic has since sold over 10 million copies in 21 languages.
