Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (French: Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes) is a 2017 English-language French 3D science fiction adventure film written and directed by Luc Besson, and co-produced by Besson and his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. The film is based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières. It stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu, and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles. Besson independently crowd-sourced and personally funded Valerian. With a production budget of around $180 million, it is both the most expensive non-American and independent film ever made. Valerian was released by STXfilms on 21 July 2017 in the United States, and in France on 26 July, by EuropaCorp. It received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the plot and some of the casting, but praised the visuals. It grossed $2100 million worldwide, but due to its high production and advertising costs, was considered a commercial failure.