Valkyrie - Tom Cruise Tries to Assassinate Hitler
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Valkyrie is an upcoming factual thriller based on the July 20 Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. The film will be directed by Bryan Singer from a screenplay written by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander. Tom Cruise is set to play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of the plot.
In 2006, Christopher McQuarrie presented the idea to Bryan Singer and the two began collaborating on the idea. In March 2007, they brought the idea to United Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to fund the project. Singer offered Cruise the lead role of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and he accepted.
Bryan Singer made his first big splash in 1995 when he directed The Usual Suspects from a screenplay written by his high school friend Christopher McQuarrie, who has sinced worked with Singer on numerous productions. Singer is very popular among comic book fans for directing both X-Men and its sequel, X2, as well as the recent Superman Returns.
McQuarrie also wrote and directed the action/thriller Way of the Gun in 2000 starring Benicio Del Toro and Ryan Phillippe. He’ll also be writing and directing the upcoming film The Stanford Prison Experiment.
Valkyrie has a release date of sometime in 2009 and is currently in pre-production, so it’s going to be a while before we see any actual footage, let alone a promotional trailer. I didn’t want to leave you empty handed, so I went searching for some clips of Tom Cruise doing his “crazy” thing, so that we could all reminisce. During my search, I happened upon a video of Jonathan Coulton, one of my favorite singer/songwriters, performing his song “Tom Cruise Crazy” at Temple Bar in Santa Monica, California, on October 9th, 2006. Check it out below and support this very talented man!
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Bryan is brilliant. Cruise is the perfect actor for this role in so many ways. I really don't think Tom's height will in any possible way affect the 100% accuracy they are using on the events. They are ACTORS playing a ROLE. It is much better to use their real accents so they can focus on the spirit of the story, while not pretending it is a re-enactment.
I applaud every decision leading to this important and probably Oscar worthy film. It's a tough topic, a tough budget to break even on, and a tough audience. But, the film is going to be brilliant.
FilmGuy, what a crock. Physicality is an important part of acting and TC doesn't have it. The fact that he is very short is just one of many knocks against this film. Great actor, my butt. I am very well researched in terms of military history and Stauffenberg's biographies in particular. Tom Cruise doesn't seem to know how to leave himself behind to play a man like Stauffenberg. As I've said in other postings, if you had to get an American actor for the tall, charismatic and stunningly handsome young count, Jim Caviezel is my best bet! Same age, same height, same understanding of what motivated Stauffenberg to offer himself as sacrifice. Can Tom Cruise be as convincing? I've seen the trailers. They're garbage. Leave it to Hollywood to botch history, as usual.
kyrie 5 years ago
Bryan Singer is a nitwit. Casting Tom Cruise as the German hero Claus Stauffenberg? Obviously no one has researched the Stauffenberg story at all. Tom Cruise, for starters, doesn't have the gravitas to play the Count. Second, he doesn't have the height. Stauffenberg was slim, long-legged and six foot three. And noted by everyone as "strikingly handsome." Tom Cruise is five foot seven of stumpy build.. How at that height are you going to play a man who literally looked down on Hitler? Again, typical American ignorance! And apparently tall German actor Thomas Kretschmann was originally cast until Tom Cruise, whose studio is producing the film, decided that HE wanted to be Claus and Thomas had to take a hike. Arrgh...that's it! I boycott Singer AND Cruise.