One major box office disappointment is that streaming service Max is enjoying a bit of a reprieve after its disastrous debut in 2017. Written and directed by Luc Besson, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” is an adaptation of the French comic series “Valérian and Laureline” by writer Pierre Christin and illustrator Jean-Claude Mézières. The film stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as special agents tasked with maintaining order in space for humanity. While there’s plenty of sci-fi spectacle on display in “Valerian,” the film also centers on a love story in which Valerian pursues his pal even though she consistently refuses to give in to his romantic desires. After being sent to the intergalactic city of Alpha, the two discover a dark threat to the city and must work together to save Alpha and the rest of the universe.
The film was obviously a passion project for Besson, who had loved the comic Valérian and Laureline since childhood, but ultimately it proved to be an unmitigated disaster both critically and commercially. Besson’s own EuropaCorp studio also helped finance the film, which, with a budget of $180 million and a year, became the most expensive independently financed film of all time expensive science fiction flop. The director was also fully committed to the project, creating 6,000 drawings, a 100-page bible exclusively about the city of Alpha, and overseeing more than 2,734 VFX shots.
So it’s a real shame that the film – which had to gross at least $400 million worldwide to even make a profit – only grossed $215 million at the global box office. Besson, who previously directed The Fifth Element, had seemingly already proven his sci-fi genius when he took the helm of Valerian, but his passion project just didn’t pan out. It certainly won’t be any consolation for Besson, but right after One of the worst horror films of 2024 became a streaming hit on Maxhis film is now climbing the streamer charts almost a decade after its initial theatrical release.
“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” catapults itself into the Max charts
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was released on Max on January 17, 2025, and although it took a few days for the charts to be released, the film appears to be moving up the streamer’s most-watched rankings. Accordingly FlixPatrol“Valerian,” a website that tracks and aggregates streaming viewership data across various platforms, debuted at No. 10 on the Max Film Charts on January 24, 2025. The next day it peaked at number five, suggesting the sci-fi action film could continue its success and perhaps even take the top spot next week.
That said, this is just the table for the US. Globally, “Valerian” isn’t streaming on the Max service, so for now this is an American renaissance for the film, which grossed just $40 million in the U.S. in 2017. Still, if the film can continue on its path, it will be a nice little win for a film that Luc Besson clearly put a lot of effort into. However, for “Valerian” to make it to number one, it will have to compete against an interesting array of other films currently occupying the US Max film charts.
Can Valerian make it to number one on the Max charts?
“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” may prove popular with streaming audiences, but it has a 47% critic score Rotten tomatoesit certainly didn’t prove popular upon its debut. This rating is also based on 297 reviews, which makes it all the more convincing – but it should be pointed out Rotten Tomatoes is the site that claims there are only two “perfect” science fiction films ever made. “Valerian” also has an average rating of 5.4 out of 10 and the audience rating isn’t much better at 53%.
Still, Max viewers clearly see something in Luc Besson’s forgotten sci-fi flop, suggesting either that there’s something in the film that audiences and critics missed in 2017 or in 2023 The streaming success of “The Snowman” showed that avid viewers will watch anything.
Meanwhile, “Valerian” has an uphill battle to reach the top of the US MAX charts the brilliant, pitch-black oddity of “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan currently holds the top spot in the US FlixPatrol Top 10. Being one of the best films of 2024 makes this a particularly big challenge for “Valerian,” although it shouldn’t have much trouble overtaking the current No. 2 film, “Keeping Up with The Joneses.” to fall.
