Sunday, May 24, 2026

$225 Million “Valerian” Crashes with $17Mil Weekend, Biggest Loss for Most Expensive Indie Film

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BOOM! That’s the sound of Luc Besson’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” US Weekend total is $17 million, not even a multiple of Friday’s $6 million. Costing at least $225 million, “Valerian” is a domestic dud.

The only hope for STX Films on the most expensive indie film ever made is people in non English speaking countries not caring about the story or dialogue. This often the case, and dud films– see “The Mummy” — can find audiences who just want the visual flash.

“Valerian” will have to count on China, Russia, South Korea, and other out of the way locales to bail them out.

Meanwhile, “Dunkirk” did a spectacular $50.5 million for the weekend assuring Warner Bros. of a $100 million run–plus plus since they’ll probably re-release when awards season begins in December. Nicely done!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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