Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a movie that has taken a lifetime to get to the big screen. That’s not an exaggeration; Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières’ Valerian and Laureline has been around for 50 years and it has proven to be very influential on many of the space operas that followed it, including Star Wars and The Fifth Element. In a new behind-the-scenes video from Valerian, Besson talks about his first exposure to the comics and his decades-long quest to bring it to life.

The “See you in Space” featurette also shows off many of the alien designs that were inspired by the Valerian and Laureline comic as Besson shares the story of his first collaboration with Mézières on The Fifth Element, as well as the first time he even thought about a possible Valerian film. At the time, technology hadn’t advanced to the point where Besson could fully recreate and modernize the many alien races and environments of the comic. Thanks to the wizards at ILM and WETA, that time has arrived, and both companies collaborated on this film.

Within the video, Besson explains the appeal of Valerian and Laureline’s normal relationship against the backdrop of alien weirdness. He also speaks about the extensive pre-production process that began years before any footage was shot. It was a massive undertaking to turn this film into a reality, but fans will soon have their chance to see it.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will be released on July 21.

What did you think about the new Valerian BTS video? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: EuropaCorp