Rihanna has been cast in Luc Besson's upcoming sci-fi adaptation, Valerian. The director himself announced the news via Instagram, excitedly telling his followers the singer has snagged a "big part," though refusing to specify which character she's been assigned. The songstress joins the previously announced Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, who both snagged the leading roles a while back.
The movie takes inspiration from Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres' 1960s graphic novel Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets. It takes place during the 28th century, at a point when mankind discovers time travel. Two spatio-temporal (yeah, we know) agents -- DeHaan and Delevingne -- are tasked with patrolling throughout history in order to keep Earth safe, and presumably to stop any Predestination-type shenanigans.
Whatever the case, Besson's got his eye on turning Valerian into quite the immersive world-builder. He's already contracted three separate effects houses - WETA, ILM and Rodeo - to render these multiple future worlds and alternate universes. It's an ambitious project that caters to the current time-travel trend, and with Besson's fantastical eye it ought to be worth the $180 million budget. Valerian opens on July 21, 2017.