I already posted this trailer on Facebook, so I apologize to anyone who may be following me over there who’s already seen it, but I’m very enthused about this movie and want to spread the word as far as I can. Hopefully, a groundswell of attention will inspire someone to actually distribute it here in the U.S.

Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec (i.e., The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Dry-White) is apparently based on a French comic book. I first heard about the film a few months ago over on Michael May’s Adventureblog, and I thought it looked kind of cool, but I don’t speak French so it didn’t really grab my attention until I found a trailer with English subtitles. Once I could tell what was going on… wow. I wanted to see the movie right away. Like now. Have a look and see if it doesn’t have the same effect on you…

(Be warned that there is a brief glimpse of bare boobies at about the 2:00 mark, if that sort of thing bothers you; for what it’s worth, they’re seen in a bathtub setting as opposed to a sexual context, if that makes any difference. Hey, what do you expect, this is a French movie, after all!)

Victorian-era Paris, a pretty heroine, a pterodactyl, and a reanimated mummy who politely asks for tea, plus 1980s-style gratuitous nudity, and all of it directed by Luc Besson, the man behind one of my all-time favorites, The Fifth Element. How can this be anything less than a perfect afternoon at the movies?

From what I’ve been able to learn, it opened in France over a month ago and there are international release dates in various countries through October, but no word whatsoever of a release in this country. My friend Dave suspects there won’t be, because of the well-known American aversion to reading subtitles. I must grudgingly admit that he may be right; foreign films simply don’t do well in the U.S. But surely something dripping with this much pure awesome would transcend that silly bit of provincialism? At least enough to allow for a straight-to-video release? I’m keeping my fingers crossed…