Clive Owen Joins Luc Besson’s Valerian

English actor

is going back into space. Reports

he's been cast in the lead role of Valerian in the live-action adaptation of a long-running

. The actor joins director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Léon) and co-stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne in the big budget sci-fi epic. Owen has previously starred in such blockbusters as Children of Men, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The International, but he is perhaps best known for portraying Lev Arris in

.

Valerian is a saga for every fan of intergalactic high adventure. The stories are gripping and of epic proportion, sweeping along in thrilling, hyper-space speed.

The intrepid Valerian and his beautiful, sharp-witted and sharp-tongued partner, Laureline, are two of the greatest agents for the vast Galaxity organization. Their missions have taken all corners of the distant past, the present, and the far future. They have seen incredible alien worlds and vistas, met amazing creatures and beings from other planets, and braved dangers to last a thousand lifetimes.

But now the Galaxity, and their home of Earth in the 28th century, are gone -- vanished as if they never existed! Alone, and totally dependent on their own resources, they struggle to carve out a new life and a new future against intergalactic dangers from the past, present, and future.