Luc Besson Works with Lexus for Spaceship Design for Upcoming Sci-fi Film “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”
Dane DeHaan – title star of upcoming Sci-Fi film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – unveiled a replica of Lexus’ SKYJET during the Lexus event in Miami.
The single-seater SKYJET was created visioning a realistic, modern vehicle that fits the Valerian world, set 700 years in the future. The film’s creatives collaborated with designers at Lexus to incorporate contemporary design cues from current iconic models to create the final SKYJET.
The final design features an adapted interpretation of Lexus’ signature “spindle” grille and a similar headlight design to the 2018 Lexus LC coupe, while the interior is based on Lexus’ AI and HMI technologies. The narrative is also set to incorporate an imagined energy capsule of the future, inspired by Lexus’ work on innovative hydrogen fuel cell technology.
First images of the craft were unveiled in November on the same day as the film’s teaser trailer debut.
Dane said, “I have always wanted to work with Luc Besson because he really hones in on every single detail in his films, bringing the narrative to life in the most imaginative way possible. The collaboration with Lexus on the SKYJET is a great example of this, Valerian’s epic chase scenes with the Skyjet are sure to be one of the most exhilarating moments in the film.”
“When Luc first spoke to us about his vision for Valerian, it was clear that he shared our ambition to go beyond the ordinary and create amazing experiences. It was an exciting challenge to help imagine the design and technologies for the SKYJET from a Lexus point of view. In addition to having our brand be part of an incredible story, we got to enjoy the look of our designers and engineers when we told them they get to work on a spaceship!” added Spiros Fotinos, Head of Global Brand Marketing at Lexus.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, directed by Luc Besson, is expected to release in July 2017.
