Lexus Unveils Spacecraft Concept for Film
It looks like the good folks over at Lexus are setting their sights on the stars, so to speak. OK, let’s not beat around the bush, what I mean by this is that Lexus has designed a space ship called the SkyJet. Now, there is good news and bad news about this: The good news is that this is amazing; the bad news is that the SkyJet is a gorgeous and well-crafted work of fiction. Not that Lexus could not design a spaceship–I mean, who knows, they might be working on such a thing as we speak. Nevertheless, the SkyJet created by Lexus was designed for fictional purposes from the start. That is to say, famed director Luc Besson, the same guy who brought us such films as The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita, contacted Lexus in order to see if the automaker would be interested in designing a spacecraft for his upcoming 2017 film, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Of course, Lexus said yes.
The aim of this whole project was to create a vehicle with the looks of something from the far off Valerian future, but something that was, too, grounded in reality, and Besson noted that he chose Lexus because it is quite the future focused firm that is all about innovating and not afraid to work with (as well as create) new, cutting edge technology.
After the automaker was on board with Besson’s vision, Takeaki Kato, the Chief Engineer over at Lexus, along with his design team, met with the director in order to gauge and discuss Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ specific design cues and visual style. As aforementioned, the team wanted to create something that feels like it’s from the future, but that is grounded in reality. As a result, you have things on the SkyJet, such as headlights (inspired by those from the LC coupe), Lexus’ signature mesh grille, and even a Lexus badge, that are straight out of present day time and space.
And Lexus seems very excited to have had the opportunity to build such a futuristic gadget. “As fans of films and Luc’s previous work, Lexus is privileged to help bring Luc’s dream to life,” said David Nordstrom, Global Branding Department General Manager at Lexus. “We enjoyed the challenge of bringing Lexus’ design philosophy and technology innovations to this project.”
Based on the French graphic novel series Valérian and Laureline, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets works to follow a pair of special government operatives who are trying to maintain some sort of order in the human territories of an expansive universe. It is set to be released sometime in 2017.
As is always the case, keep checking back in with us over here at your Highland Park Lexus dealer for more information with regard to all your Lexus needs. Too, while you are at it, why not sign up to test drive one of our many new lot vehicles? We can promise to do everything in our power to help find the perfect vehicle for you!
