Valkyrie

[MacGuffin]

United Artists grabs Singer thriller
'Usual Suspects' pair gets OK
Source: Variety

United Artists toppers Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner have greenlit their second film, an original thriller that Bryan Singer will direct as his next feature.

The untitled film re-teams Singer with "The Usual Suspects" screenwriter Chris McQuarrie.

Singer and McQuarrie will produce. The drama is the duo's first original collaboration since "The Usual Suspects."

Set in WWII, the project is similar to "Suspects" in that it is a multi-character ensemble piece.

Singer and McQuarrie took the project directly to Wagner and Cruise, who agreed to finance it almost immediately.

The film will delay Warner Bros.' hope of mounting a sequel to "Superman Returns" in the near future. Singer's Bad Hat Harry banner has an overall deal at WB, where he is developing several films that include that sequel and the Harvey Milk biopic "The Mayor of Castro Street." He also is directing "Football Wives," a series pilot for ABC and ABC TV Studio. The new project begins production this summer.

Cruise and Wagner resuscitated the UA label in November. They are in production on the Robert Redford-directed drama "Lions for Lambs," which stars Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep. The film will be released Nov. 9 by MGM.

"Bryan is one of the great filmmakers working today and Chris is an exceptional writer, and for Tom and me, this was an exciting opportunity for our second picture," Wagner said.

Compared with recent tentpoles "Superman Returns" and the first two "X-Men" pics, Singer's latest project carries a moderate pricetag.

"This was something Chris showed me late last year, and we worked on it quietly during the holidays," Singer told Daily Variety. "We brought it to UA and it was nice one-stop shopping. We decided it was the right place to make this movie, as opposed to shopping it around. It's a period in history that has always fascinated me, and we found a very interesting story that materialized into a pretty wonderful script."

UA, which is in the process of securing capitalization from Merrill Lynch upward of $400 million, plans to make four to six films per year but has been selective. The company has acquired several development projects, including the Stanley Alpert book "The Birthday Party."

[MacGuffin]

Cruise set for Singer's WWII film
McQuarrie wrote the script with Alexander
Source: Variety

United Artists has set Tom Cruise to star for director Bryan Singer in the untitled WWII thriller, which will begin production in the summer.

Chris McQuarrie wrote the script with Nathan Alexander. Singer and McQuarrie will produce, and Alexander will be co-producer.

UA partners Cruise and Paula Wagner made a deal last week for the film (Daily Variety, March 14, 2007), which is the first original project teaming Singer and McQuarrie since "The Usual Suspects."

Cruise and Wagner set the film as UA's second production commitment. The first was "Lions for Lambs," the Robert Redford-directed drama which stars Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep. That film, scripted by Matthew Michael Carnahan, will be released Nov. 9 by MGM.

Singer and McQuarrie brought the project to Cruise and Wagner because they felt the material would be a good match for UA. Singer, who is in the early stages of mounting a sequel to "Superman Returns," was able to fit it in before the Man of Steel is ready to take off again for Warner Bros. and Legendary.

At the time, Cruise considered it only as a project for the studio. That changed quickly. The thriller is based on actual events, as German generals hatch a scheme to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the height of WWII.

"After reading the script, Tom and I knew immediately that this was a film we had to make," Wagner said. "As an added bonus, because of Bryan Singer's involvement and Tom's admiration for him as a filmmaker as well as the excellence of the script, the project attracted Tom as an actor. I cannot think of a more perfect combination of creative elements for our second production."

While the thriller is framed in Europe during WWII, it is a relatively inexpensive film compared with the tentpoles that Singer has directed recently. It also has the ensemble character intrigue present in "The Usual Suspects."

[MacGuffin]

Branagh set for Singer's 'Valkyrie'
Actor joins Cruise in WWII drama
Source: Variety

Kenneth Branagh will star with Tom Cruise in "Valkyrie," the Bryan Singer-directed WWII drama that shoots this summer for United Artists.

Branagh will play a German general who mentors Cruise's character and hatches a plan to assassinate Hitler. Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander scripted, based on a true story.

Singer and McQuarrie, who will produce, brought the project to Cruise and Paula Wagner in March; Cruise committed to star shortly thereafter. Project marked the second film to which UA committed and also the second in which Cruise is starring (he also toplines the Robert Redford-directed "Lions for Lambs").

Pic begins lensing July 19 in Berlin.

Branagh recently finished directing a "Sleuth" remake that stars Michael Caine and Jude Law and a version of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" that will premiere on HBO in September.

[MacGuffin]

Germany Bans Valkyrie Filming Due to Scientology
Source: ComingSoon.net

Germany Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer says the country is refusing to let the Bryan Singer-directed Valkyrie film at German military sites because of Tom Cruise's belief in Scientology. In the film, based on true events, German generals hatch a scheme to assassinate Adolph Hitler at the height of WWII.

"[Filmmakers] will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult," Kammerbauer said. "In general, the Bundeswehr (German military) has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg's person."

Germany does not recognize the Church of Scientology as a church.

United Artists Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Paula Wagner released the following statement regarding the matter:

"To set the record straight, 'Valkyrie' is a historically accurate thriller that presents the World War Two resistance hero Col. Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg as the heroic and principled figure he was, and we believe it will go a long way towards reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military there was real resistance to the Nazi regime. 'Valkyrie' was originated and brought to United Artists by Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie. Based on the fantastic screenplay written by Mr. McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, we gave it the green light. Mr. Singer, the director, then offered the role of Col. Stauffenberg to Tom Cruise because he thought he was perfect for the part. Aside from his obvious admiration of the man he is portraying, Mr. Cruise's personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot, themes, or content. And even though we could shoot the movie anywhere in the world, we believe Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice."

The dramatic thriller also stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Patrick Wilson, Stephen Fry, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten and Eddie Izzard.

[MacGuffin]

Tom Cruise pic verboten in Berlin
Access to Bendlerblock denied
Source: Variety

Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer are having little luck with their plans to film their WWII drama "Valkyrie" at government sites in Berlin.

After considerable confusion about whether or not the pic would be granted the necessary permits, and the role Cruise's high-profile association with the Church of Scientology was playing in the decision, the Finance Ministry has declined producers of the film permission to shoot at a Defense Ministry building where German officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, played by Cruise in the film, was executed for attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

The site, known as the Bendlerblock building, is now a memorial to Stauffenberg and other conspirators of the failed plot, which was codenamed "Operation Valkyrie."

Singer's pic continues to enjoy plenty of support from the local community, however.

Writing in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the director of "The Lives of Others," said Cruise's star power would make the neglected story of Stauffenberg's heroism known to the entire world. Cruise, in the role of Stauffenberg, "would do more to promote Germany's image than 10 World Cup soccer championships could ever do."

Execs at Studio Babelsberg, which is partnering with United Artists on the production, have also said the project would be a great benefit to Germany.

German officials, however, appear to be sticking by their decision. A Finance Ministry spokesman said the memorial, a "place of remembrance and mourning, would lose dignity if we were to exploit it as a film set."

Another request to shoot at a Berlin police station was rejected after "intensive review," according to a spokesman for the Berlin police department. "The adverse impact to the facility would be so grave that the request had to be denied."

Singer's film has suffered a storm of criticism and indignation here due to Cruise's involvement in Scientology -- an organization the German government views as a dangerous, profit-based cult with totalitarian aims.

Stauffenberg's son, Berthold von Stauffenberg, has also blasted the project, saying Cruise "should keep his hands off my father."

The Finance Ministry has denied that the ban has anything to do with Cruise's Scientology ties, however.

Three years ago, Cruise's production of "Mission: Impossible III" was denied permission to film key scenes in Berlin's Reichstag parliament building due to a general ban on commercial film shooting there and in an effort to maintain the building's "dignity."

In 2003, however, pubcaster ARD's TV movie about the failed conspiracy, "Operation Valkyrie," directed by Jo Baier and starring Sebastian Koch ("The Lives of Others") as Stauffenberg, was allowed to shoot at the Bendlerblock. Yet the presence of caterers and camera crews at the memorial was a "painful experience" for curators of the memorial site, said Finance Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig.

[MacGuffin]

'Valkyrie' Begins Principal Photography in Berlin...Plus First Images!       
Source: IESB
 
United Artists Entertainment LLC announced the start of principal photography today in Berlin on the international production of "Valkyrie," a suspense thriller based on the true story of the daring German officers' plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944.

Directed by Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects," "Superman Returns," "X-Men," "X2: X-Men: United") and written by Academy Award(R)-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects," "The Way of the Gun") and Nathan Alexander, "Valkyrie" reunites Singer and McQuarrie for the first time since their ground-breaking 1995 thriller "The Usual Suspects."

Superstar Tom Cruise heads an international cast as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the aristocratic German officer who led the heroic attempt to bring down the Nazi regime and end the war by planting a bomb in Hitler's bunker. Also starring are Kenneth Branagh ("Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"), Bill Nighy ("Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"), Tom Wilkinson ("In the Bedroom"), Carice van Houten ("Black Book"), Eddie Izzard ("Ocean's Thirteen"), Christian Berkel ("Black Book"), Thomas Kretschmann ("King Kong"), and Terrence Stamp ("Billy Budd," "Superman," "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace").

The film is being produced by Singer, McQuarrie, and Gilbert Adler ("Superman Returns," "Constantine"), with Chris Lee ("Superman Returns") executive producing. Joining Singer behind the camera is a talented production team that includes director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel ("Superman Returns," "X2"), costume designer Joanna Johnston ("Munich," "War of the Worlds"), and editor John Ottman (" Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," "Superman Returns").

The "July 20 Plot" on Hitler's life is one of the most heroic but least known episodes of World War Two. Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan that will allow a shadow government to replace Hitler's once he is dead. But fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from one of many in the plot to a double-edged central role. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of his nation's government ... He must kill Hitler himself.

"'Valkyrie' tells a story that is not only exciting but also important," said Singer. "It's something that Chris McQuarrie and I have wanted to do for some time. I can't imagine shooting it anywhere else but on location in Germany, and I'm thrilled that we were able to get Tom Cruise to play Col. Stauffenberg."

"'Valkyrie' is a gripping thriller that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats -- and also go a long way towards reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military there was real resistance to the Nazi regime," said United Artists Chief Executive Officer Paula Wagner. "As soon as we read the screenplay, we knew this was a movie we had to make."

"Valkyrie" is the second production to be green-lit by United Artists since the fabled Hollywood studio was revived last November under the leadership of Cruise and Wagner, who co-own the studio. It is a co-production of United Artists and Studio Babelsberg AG, the venerable German film studio whose stages have hosted productions ranging from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" to Paul Greengrass's "The Bourne Ultimatum."

The film will be shot on location in Germany and elsewhere. It is scheduled to be ready for release by MGM in the summer of 2008.

[Pubrick]

they look nothing alike. dude should have been played by paul giamatti.



watch out! giamatti's got a knife!

[MacGuffin]

Cruise Talks Valkyrie
Star-producer opens up about his WWII film.

"All I can say is, 'Save your comments until you see the movie.'" So says Tom Cruise to critics of his decision to star in and produced the fact-based World War II thriller Valkyrie.

Cruise stars in the film as Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, the ringleader of a failed plot by German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Production on the Bryan Singer-directed film is currently under way in Germany, a country that has been outspoken against Cruise and his religion, Scientology.

Cruise told People.com, "I carry a great responsibility to the Germans, for whom a man like [Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von] Stauffenberg means so much. And I feel this responsibility to the man himself. The more I learn about him, the greater my respect and my admiration of him."

The star added that Singer helped convince him to take on the project by showing Cruise a photo of Stauffenberg, whom he bears a striking resemblance to. "Intuitively I saw a similarity in the profile of this man with myself," Cruise recalled. "Naturally that's something that makes an actor curious."

[MacGuffin]

The rebels from left: Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel, Bill Nighy, Tom Cruise, Terence Stamp, David Schofield and Kenneth Brannagh, who will appear in the film Valkyrie


On a mission to kill Hitler, Tom Cruise and his conspirators
Source: Daily Mail

*READ AT OWN RISK - CONTAINS SPOLIERS*

Their stern faces reflect the gravity of their mission.

Dressed in German uniforms and sombre suits, Tom Cruise's character and his co-conspirators look over their plan to kill Adolf Hitler - and end the Second World War.

Cruise's fellow plotters are played by Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, David Schofield and Kenneth Branagh.

They form the core of the Nazi resistance in the film Valkyrie, which Cruise has promised will be faithful to history.

It depicts the ill-fated plan to blow up the dictator on July 20, 1944. But he survived, and the plotters paid with their lives.


1. Carl Goerdeler
KEVIN McNally, 51, plays Carl Goerdeler, the former mayor of Leipzig. He was the son of a Prussian district judge, and after studying law became a local civil servant.

He also became price commissioner in the government of Heinrich Brüning and remained in office when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933.

Goerdeler resigned in 1934 after disagreement with Hitler over his policies and was a central figure in the civilian resistance to Hitler.

But when the July 20 bomb attempt backfired he was betrayed and arrested. He was beheaded in Ploetzensee jail in Berlin in 1945.

2. Albrecht Riter Merz von Quirnheim
ONE of the few Germans in the cast, Christian Berkel, 49, plays von Quirnheim, once a committed Nazi officer who became disillusioned with Hitler's conduct of the war in 1943.

Drawn into the conspiracy, he was shot in July 1944, when Hitler survived the bomb which went off in his headquarters in East Prussia.

3. General Friedrich Olbricht
BILL Nighy, 57, plays the general who was one of the main architects of the operation.

He mistrusted Hitler from the earliest days but served with distinction in the campaign against Poland in 1939 and against France the following year.

The general was shot in the Bendlerblock in Berlin, the headquarters of the army high command, where the conspirators had hoped to stage a coup.

4. Count Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
TOM Cruise, 45, plays the leading role of the nobleman who planted a briefcase containing two pounds of explosives in Hitler's conference room at his headquarters.

But the briefcase was moved behind a table leg before it exploded, protecting Hitler from the brunt of the blast which killed four others in the room.

The American's character turned against the war after learning about the Nazi's extermination of so many Jews.

Stauffenberg was a driving force in the conspiracy. He too met his end in the Bendlerblock before a firing squad, shouting, "Long live Germany!"

5. General Ludwig Beck
TERENCE Stamp, 68, plays the General, one of the only officers to stand up to Hitler in the early days of his regime.

As head of the general staff, the British actor's character-knew a war against the West was unwinnable and quit in August 1938.

The General joined the resistance later in the war and was arrested after Valkyrie failed.

He was allowed to commit suicide with his own pistol but managed to blind himself instead. He was killed by a Nazi stormtrooper.

6. Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben
DAVID Schofield, 56, who featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, plays the Field Marshal, who was one of the conquerors of France in the Blitzkrieg of 1940.

Like Stauffenberg, the British actor's character came to realise Hitler was leading Germany to disaster and joined the conspiracy against him in 1942.

Arrested on August 8, 1944, he was strangled in the Ploetzensee prison in Berlin. Thousands of co-conspirators met the same fate, their deaths filmed for Hitler to watch in the cinema at his Berchtesgaden mountain retreat.

7. Henning von Tresckow
KENNETH Branagh, 46, plays Stauffenberg's closest accomplice in the plot.

Although he was initially a Nazi sympathiser, the Shakespearean-actor's character became disenchanted with Hitler's war plans.

He planned several assassination plots, but all failed. When he heard that the Valkyrie plot had failed, he killed himself with a hand grenade on the eastern front.

He left behind several papers, one of which said: "Hitler is a dancing dervish. One must shoot him."

[Pubrick]

something tells me this movie is gonna be a downer.

[MacGuffin]

'Valkyrie' allowed into Bendlerblock
Germany embraces Tom Cruise pic
Source: Variety

BERLIN — The German government has done an about-face and decided to let the makers of "Valkyrie," the Tom Cruise starrer about the failed 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler, use the original site where the officers behind the conspiracy were executed.

Thorsten Albig, a spokesman for the finance ministry, told Bild newspaper there had been a change of heart about allowing the filmmakers to shoot at the Bendlerblock, where plot leader Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg and several of his co-conspirators were killed shortly after the bomb they planted injured but failed to kill the Nazi leader on July 20, 1944.

The finance ministry is responsible for all property owned by the federal government, including the Bendlerblock, which is now a memorial and national German shrine.

"There was a change of sentiment at the ministry of defense," Albig said, referring to the ministry that is located in the complex of buildings surrounding the shrine to von Stauffenberg — a national hero in a country that because of its belligerent past has a definite shortage in that department.

"The latest request by the film team was given a positive answer," he added. "There was a different feeling about the project. We will take a closer look with director Bryan Singer at the location and, while ensuring that the dignity of the shrine is protected, see what's possible and what's not."

The defense ministry had raised objections earlier this year because of bad experiences with film crews in recent years who had set up their equipment — and catering trucks — at the location. There also had been concerns raised in German newspapers, fuelled by protests by von Stauffenberg's son, about whether Cruise was fit for the role. The initial rejection of the request to film at the Bendlerblock had sparked a wave of support for the film from leading German newspaper columnists and filmmakers, including Wolfgang Petersen. They admonished their countrymen for being small minded, ignoring the chance to share von Stauffenberg's story with a global audience and demonstrate that there was in fact resistance to Hitler.

Several weeks later, in early July, the German government announced that the film, since it was being made in Germany, had qualified for Euros 4.8 million ($6.5 million) worth of subsidies from the German Federal Film Fund. The subsidies are available to films as long as a German-based producer is involved and a certain percentage of the cost is spent in Germany.

"Valkyrie" — named after the plot's codename — began filming at locations in Berlin on July 18. The film is due for release in 2008.

[MacGuffin]

Behind The Scenes clip here.

[Stefen]

Singer has really fallen off for me. He's just 1 step above the Bays and Ratners as far as I'm concerned.

[MacGuffin]

Lab spoils 'Valkyrie' footage
Source: Hollywood Reporter

CANNES -- A key scene in the Tom Cruise World War II thriller "Valkyrie" will have to be re-shot after footage was damaged in processing.

The film, in which Cruise plays would-be Hitler assassin Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, has been the source of immense interest and controversy in Germany and has had its share of production headaches.

"Valkyrie" director Bryan Singer and producer United Artists had to spend months negotiating with German authorities to get permission to shoot at a key historical site in Berlin, the Bendler-Block, where von Stauffenberg and his fellow conspirators plotted to kill Hitler and where they eventually were executed.

But some of the Bendler-Block footage was damaged during processing at the ARRI film lab in Munich.

A UA spokesman said the damage was not extensive and the re-shoot would not have any effect on the film's production schedule or budget.

"Valkyrie" is under a glaring spotlight of media attention in Germany. Any news of production hiccups immediately becomes tabloid fodder. A minor accident early on in the shoot -- in which some German extras fell off a truck during an outdoor scene -- was widely discussed in the local press.

Several German politicians and some members of the von Stauffenberg family have attacked the project, in part because of Cruise's association with the Church of Scientology, which is viewed with suspicion in Germany.

But the local industry has welcomed the shoot, which is pumping millions into Berlin and the surrounding area

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.