Rihanna Joins Cast of Sci-Fi Epic ‘Valerian’

Pop mega-star Rihanna (Home) has joined the cast of the upcoming Luc Besson sci-fi adaptation, Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets, opposite Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne.

The film is based on the 1960’s French graphic novel – Valerian and Laureline – by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières. The graphic novel focused on the titular characters who defend a utopian 28th Century Earth and its surrounding planets from dangers coming from deep outer space. DeHaan and Delevingne will portray Valerian and Laureline, respectively. At the moment, no information about Rihanna’s role has been revealed. Clive Owen has also joined the cast, playing Commander Arün Filitt.

Slowly making a name for herself as an actress, this will be Rihanna’s biggest role to date. She starred in the box office bomb Battleship a couple years ago while also lending her voice to the DreamWorks animated film Home.

Delevingne – who is a model turned actress – has a full schedule ahead of her beginning with the DC Universe’s Suicide Squad in which she plays Enchantress. She starred in last summer’s adaptation of the young adult novel Paper Towns opposite Nat Wolff (Palo Alto). DeHaan, rising indie actor, is best known for his roles in the found-footage superpower movie Chronicle and in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Harry Osbourne a.k.a. the Green Goblin. He will next be stepping into the role of James Dean in Life, which hits theaters on December 4.

Visionary director Luc Besson, whose sterling resume includes the likes of Lucy, The Fifth Element and Léon: The Professional, will write and direct the 3D science fiction epic. The graphic adaptation will be Besson’s most ambitious project to date, reportedly coming with a budget of a whopping $180 million. Needless to say, a lot of pressure will be on the shoulders of Besson to deliver a box office hit and avoid the trap of disappointing space operas, the most recent being Jupiter Ascending earlier this year.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets has a release date of July 27, 2017.