With the exception of Star Wars or Star Trek, space opera doesn’t get much play in the Hollywood system these days. I mean, what’s going to challenge their supremacy? Jupiter Ascending? But, back in the ’70s, there was space opera galore, and it was awesome even when it wasn’t. This is the vein Luc Besson is hoping to strike with his upcoming Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, based on the French comic series Valérian and Laureline by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières. We spoke to Besson and stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevigne at our Camp Conival stage in San Diego all about it!

DeHaan confirmed to our Dan Casey, who did a masterful job conducting our stage interview, that Valerian will be something we haven’t seen before on screen, and that’s really saying something considering how influential the comic was to sci-fi cinema, including Besson’s very own 1997 film The Fifth Element. Both DeHaan and Delevigne marveled at the footage they were shown in Hall H, saying that all they saw while filming was a massive blue screen.

Besson revealed that he gets tired as a movie goer seeing the same kind of movie all the time, the same kinds of stories, and he’s tried to shake things up with Valerian. The design elements are certainly a major factor, but the fact that the characters can travel in time and space will certainly make the movie something off the beaten path in terms of the sci-fi we see most of the time. And Besson is nothing if not innovative in the story department; his movies are in a class by themselves.

We’ll see what happens when Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets rockets in to theaters next year. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Image: Jean-Claude Mézières

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow him on Twitter!