A RopeofSilicon reader just sent in a few comments from an interview Tom Cruise had with Total Film Magazine regarding his upcoming film Valkyrie. Cruise addresses the inspiration, screenplay, controversy, accents and the film’s box-office chances.

Valkyrie is set to hit theaters on December 26 and if you haven’t watched the most recent trailer I attached it [here]. Give it a watch, you won’t be disappointed. The full Cruise interview is featured in the October 2008 issue of Total Film Magazine.

On Claus von Stauffenberg:
“We got hold of the uniform, I put the thing on and it was like I immediately felt, ‘OK. We’re going to tell this story. I knew there were attempts on Hitler, but I didn’t know about von Stauffenberg until I read Christopher McQuarrie’s screenplay.”

On the screenplay:
“The screenplay itself is extraordinary. It made my hands sweat when I was reading it. This movie, you must understand, is not a biopic. It’s not a documentary. It’s a thriller - very dynamic, very tense.”

On the lack of German accents in the film:
“You know, we spent a lot of time going back and forth over that. All of a sudden you’re listening to people trying to put on accents and Bryan finally said, ‘No, no, no.’ Just tell the story. We don’t want to do an accent movie, just try and find something neutral that won’t distract from the story and the characters.”

On the controversy in Germany that Cruise took the role:
“I don’t really have anything to say about that. I fell a great, great responsibility to tell this story. I thought of the issue in terms of what von Stauffenberg represents - people opposed to the Nazis and what they stood for. Someone who realized that and took the steps that ultimately cost him his life. To me, I find that very moving, OK? Incredibly moving.”

On the film’s box-office chances:
“I have no idea what the response will be. We have no idea, man. Believe me, we put so much pressure on ourselves. I want to entertain. You know, as a kid, I’ll never forget the money I saved to go to the cinema and be entertained.” (Source: ropeofsilicon.com)

Cruise PRs dismiss reports his sister has replaced them

Tom Cruise has denied reports that his sister is back on board as his publicist. It was claimed that the Tropic Thunder star has re-hired big sis Lee Anne De Vette to look after his affairs while wife Katie Holmes is busy with work commitments. Not true, says Tom’s reps.

A statement from publicity firm Rogers & Cowan reads,
“We at Rogers & Cowan represent Tom Cruise worldwide in the area of publicity and public relations.
“Lee Anne DeVette, who is his sister, is not involved in this area for her brother at all.
“As it was announced three years ago, she remains as his assistant working in areas of his production company that do not include publicity or public relations.”

The actor kept his business affairs in the family when Lee Anne took the reigns from Tom’s longtime PR guru Pat Kingsley in 2004. (Entertainmentwise.com)

There’s a new Valkyrie trailer online. Click on http://valkyrie.unitedartists.com/ to go to the official site or click here to go directly to the trailer.

Besides this trailer, Yahoo! Movies also has promotional photo’s online, a featurette “Based on a true story”, background information about the movie, cast info and more, so go check it out and… Enjoy!

NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Holmes made her Broadway debut in “All My Sons” Thursday night, and her husband Tom Cruise thought it was a knockout. When asked for his verdict on Holmes’ performance, Cruise stopped for a moment while moving through the crowd at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, telling The Associated Press: “Did you see it? … It was extraordinary.”

Hundreds of people bought tickets to see Holmes act on Broadway for the first time in a preview performance for the revival of “All My Sons,” co-starring John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson.

The audience collectively gasped when Cruise entered the theater moments before the curtain went up. While anti-Scientology protesters demonstrated outside, the movie star — and Hollywood’s most famous Scientologist — mingled and shook hands with some other theatergoers who took photos and clapped. He then hugged Dustin Hoffman, who was sitting a few rows away, which drew another cheer inside the theater.
Amid the hubbub, it took awhile for people to take their seats. Then the moment they’d been waiting for arrived: Holmes and her fellow cast members stepped out on stage to start the play, which officially opens Oct. 16.

If Holmes felt nervous and jittery, she didn’t show it. She delivered her lines with confidence and projected her girlish voice so it could be heard loud and clear. She danced around on stage with gusto. She looked lovely in two dresses that highlighted her trim yet shapely figure. She wore a brown shoulder-length hairpiece to hide her trendy pixie cut. And she received a standing ovation afterward. It’s safe to say that no one probably clapped harder than Cruise.

“All My Sons” concerns businessman Joe Keller (Lithgow) whose factory supplied defective cylinder parts to the military, resulting in the deaths of 21 pilots during World War II. Yet it was his business partner who went to jail for the mistake. Wiest plays Keller’s wife; Wilson his idealistic son; and Holmes the son’s fiancee and daughter of Keller’s disgraced partner
The role calls for Holmes’s character — named Ann — to be at turns winsome and willful, and theatergoer Diane Yatauro thinks she nailed it.
“It was a very tough role in that she had to be delicate and hurt and strong,” said Yatauro, 54, of Glen Cove, N.Y. “She was playing against some heavyweights who’ve been around for a long time and she held her own.”

New Yorker Nadja Forbes, 35, said she was impressed by Holmes’ stage presence having known her recently as Mrs. Tom Cruise. “She brings this fresh breeze of air not only in her acting but also in her dialogue that kind of breaks up the seriousness of what’s going on,” Forbes said. “I’m actually surprised that she’s, you know, enough of an actress for being on Broadway.”

Holmes starred in the popular teen drama “Dawson’s Creek,” and has appeared in such films as “The Ice Storm,” “Wonder Boys,” “Disturbing Behavior,” “Thank You For Smoking,” “Batman Begins” and “Mad Money.”

The 29-year-old star — accompanied by Lithgow, not Cruise — stopped to pose for photographers outside and called her performance “fine.” She and Lithgow then jumped into a black SUV that sped them away from the surrounding media and fan frenzy. More than 200 bystanders had gathered across the street to watch Holmes leave the theater as police officers on foot and horseback patrolled the scene.

Not among the observers: the roughly 30 Scientology protesters from a group called Anonymous who demonstrated before the show behind a barricade, loudly chanting “Scientology kills!” Some wore masks like in the movie “V for Vendetta,” and one poster read: “FREE KATIE.”
Melissa Doyle tried to ignore the ruckus. She said she took her spot in line early, and saw Holmes rush into the theater wearing skinny jeans, a black blazer and oversized sunglasses. “I love Katie Holmes,” the 27-year-old New Yorker said. “I think she’s a great actress and right now, I really love her for her fashion, her style! I think she really kind of differentiates herself among young Hollywood. Plus, she’s a mom — and I just think she’s a really good role model.”

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Alistair Savides, visiting from St. Louis, said he wasn’t there to see Holmes. He said he’s a fan of Arthur Miller’s drama, which first played on Broadway in 1947. “I don’t really care about who’s performing as long as they’re good at what they do and it’s a good play,” Savides said. As protesters’ chants grew louder, Savides called it “surreal to be right in the middle of this thing. But, you know, there’s always two sides to every story and they just really strongly believe in one side of the story. … If it adds to public debate, maybe that’s a good thing.”

Cruise’s membership in the Church of Scientology has made him a controversial target of criticism. And last year, Jada Pinkett Smith felt compelled to deny her good friend Holmes is a prisoner in her marriage to Cruise, who’s been depicted by the tabloids as a controlling husband. (AP)

Tom ‘couldn’t be more proud’ of Katie

Katie Holmes made her Broadway debut in the revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons Thursday night – and her biggest fan was in the audience to cheer her on.
“I’m so proud of her,” Holmes’s husband, Tom Cruise, told PEOPLE before the curtain went up on the first preview at New York’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. (The show officially opens Oct. 16.) “This means so much to her.”

Looking radiant in a royal blue 1940s style dress, Holmes took the stage with a cast that includes Broadway vets John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson.

Originally produced in 1947 (two years before playwright Miller’s masterpiece, Death of a Salesman), All My Sons tells the story of a man (Lithgow) who sells defective airplane parts to the Army, causing the death of 21 men.
His crime, which he blamed his business partner, comes back to haunt him when his son (Wilson) plans to wed his partner’s daughter (Holmes).

At the end of the two-and-a-half-hour production, an enthusiastic Cruise joined the audience – which also included his Rain Man costar Dustin Hoffman – in a rousing standing ovation that lasted through three curtain calls.

Outside the theater, fans eager to get a glimpse of the Holmes mobbed the stage door. The former Dawson’s Creek star left walked out casually in a black shirt and pants and happily posed for pictures.

“She should be very proud of her performance,” said Hoffman. “She did a fine job.” (People.com)

Tom Cruise on Katie’s Broadway Debut: ‘It Was Extraordinary’

Tom Cruise is praising his wife Katie Holmes’ Broadway debut Thursday night, when she appeared in a preview performance of “All My Sons.”
“Did you see it? … It was extraordinary,” Tom proudly told the Associated Press at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York.

Katie’s debut drew hundreds of audience members, who gasped just as Tom made his way into the show moments before it began and reportedly hugged fellow film star Dustin Hoffman in the theater, says the AP.
Katie received a standing ovation after the performance, the AP reports.

“All My Sons” also co-stars John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson.
The production officially opens on Oct. 16. (ETOnline)

Tom & Katie enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Angus McIndoe restaurant after opening night of All My Sons in New York City on Thursday night.
Stay tuned for pictures and don’t forget to check katie-holmes.org for more Katie news and pics!

Leicester Square goes totally tropical…

War huh? What is it good for? Well, judging by the reaction to the UK premiere of Tropic Thunder in London’s far-from-balmy Leicester Square, it’s at least good for a top-quality giggle.

The three stars of Ben Stiller’s action comedy, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black and Stiller himself, were out in force amid a jungle of camouflage-clad models, friends and well-wishers to celebrate the movie’s launch.
For people yet to watch the film, the main talking point is Downey Jr’s portrayal of Method-espousing actor Kirk Lazarus. But for those who’ve been lucky enough to see the hilarious flick, all tongues were wagging about Tom Cruise’s slightly disconcerting cameo.

“He’s awesome, he’s hilarious and I’d work with him again in a second,” says Stiller of his A-lister buddy. “He’s been supportive of the movie from the beginning and it was great to have him in it.”

Does this foray into comedy mean that Stiller and Cruise’s long-mooted plans to make the Hardy Boys update, The Hardy Men, are coming to fruition?
“You know what we had a lot of fun working together so I hope so. We’ve got to get together on a script first but it’s definitely something we want to do.”

Stiller’s latest directorial effort is without a doubt his most ambitious effort yet, how did he cope with all the big bangs?

“Whenever you make a movie you wonder if you’re ever going to be able to get out of it but this was great,” he says. “I’ve been involved with lots of movies where you get to blow stuff up and luckily the explosions went well on this movie. The camera was rolling when it was supposed to be, so everything was cool.”
Jack Black, dapperly dressed in a weather-themed suit (“This jacket was my design, I said I wanted something with lightning and thunder to honour the movie but it looks a little bit like bird shit.”), is set to star next in Harold Ramis’ pre-historical comedy Year One (“It’s going to be very good. It’s a comedy… set in biblical times,” says Black helpfully) but he’s not ruling out a sequel to his latest release.

“I had a great time making this movie,” he says. “I hope there’s a Tropic Thunder 2; I think we could call it Arctic Lightning.”

Tropic Thunder is released in the UK on Friday.

Source: Empire Online

Sorry to disappoint you Shrek fans, but Tom Cruise won’t be heading to the swamp for the next go-round in the green-guy franchise.

Despite a flurry of stories on the Web over the past two weeks, Cruise is not—repeat, not—a candidate to voice the villain in Shrek Goes Fourth for DreamWorks Animation.

“As of today, there is no truth to the Tom Cruise-Shrek 4 rumor,” rep Jeff Raymond tells E! News without further explanation.

The ogre rumors went into overdrive after first surfacing Sept. 4 on the movie blog cinemablend.com, which claimed to have received an email from an unnamed studio insider stating Cruise was being considered for the role.

That report took off in the blogosphere, eventually getting picked up in mainstream publications, including one of the Los Angeles Times blogs, which gave it even more traction.

And voilà, Cruise’s camp stepped up to debunk the Shrek story.

DreamWorks declined to comment.

What exactly is the Top Gunner doing next? He certainly has plenty of options.

After wrapping the World War II thriller Valkyrie, due out in December, Cruise could join Ben Stiller in The Hardy Men, a comedy envisioning the sibling sleuths all grown up.

Cruise and his United Artists also just snapped up the rights to the true-crime thriller The Monster of Florence as a possible starring vehicle. That film chronicles a three-decade serial murder spree in the Italian city.

One film he won’t be doing is Edwin Salt. Cruise had been considering the film but ultimately passed on the role of a CIA officer mistaken for a president-assassinating Russian spy. The part is now reportedly being refashioned for Angelina Jolie.

As for Shrek Goes Fourth, the film will feature the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy. It’s currently in the early production stages and expected to hit theaters in 2010.

Source: E! Online

Tom Cruise says there is no difference between the way he treats his adopted and biological children.

The Tropic Thunder star - who has a biological daughter Suri, two, with wife Katie Holmes and two adopted children, 15-year-old Isabella and 13-year-old Connor, with ex-wife Nicole Kidman - insists he treats all his kids exactly the same.

“My adopted children are my own children,” he declared. “There is no separation in that for me whatsoever. There’s no way there is any difference and anyone who has adopted would say the same.
“I’ve been up in the middle of the night changing nappies; there’s no question in terms of me being the father, that bond couldn’t be any stronger.”

Tom - who co-starred with Nicole in 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut - also hinted he is keen to star in a movie alongside Katie in the future.

“I would maybe work with Katie, if I can find the right film,” he revealed. “I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily easier of harder working with a wife or girlfriend - I work well with everyone. Working together is really enjoyable. In the same way Katie and I are creating a family, a home. It’s very pleasurable.” (News24.com)

Tom Cruise’s United Artists deal makers have acquired the rights to Douglas Preston’s serial killer story The Monster Of Florence at the Venice Film Festival in Italy.

Cruise is attached to produce and possibly star in the thriller, according to author Preston, who was inspired to write the book by a series of real-life grisly homicides that took place between 1968 and 1985 - the same murders that inspired Thomas Harris to write Silence of The Lambs sequel Hannibal.

Source

VENICE — Tom Cruise and United Artists have acquired rights to serial-killer thriller “The Monster of Florence,” with Cruise attached to produce and possibly to star, according to Douglas Preston, author of the bestseller.

Preston and Italo journo Mario Spezi told Corriere della Sera they have inked with UA for a big-screen adaptation of their reconstruction of eight grisly double homicides believed to have been committed single-handedly between 1968 and 1985 in and around the Italian Renaissance gem.

“It’s the biggest movie deal in my life,” the leading Italo daily quoted Preston as saying in a front page story. Previous Preston tomes made into movies include thriller “The Relic.”

“The film will have Florence and the Chianti as protagonists: two of the locations most beloved by Americans,” said Spezi, a Florentine crime reporter and “Monster” contributor, to Corriere.

Reps for United Artists could not immediately be reached for comment.

Spezi said the script will be penned by Chris McQuarrie (”Valkyrie”) and that Cruise will produce and decide whether he wants to star once he reads it.

The “Monster of Florence” case had previously inspired the Thomas Harris sequel “Hannibal.” (Variety)

Tom Cruise is featured in the October/December 2008 issue of Total Film Magazine

From the Total Film website:

This month we’re chucking snowballs to celebrate the arrival of our annual winter preview - dissecting all the best flicks that’ll be keeping you warm ’til Christmas and beyond.

From Valkyrie to Quantum Of Solace, Jessica Biel to Scarlett Johansson, Will Smith to Shia LeBeouf, we’ve got an eye on all the films and folks that’ll be filling your local multiplex this winter.

But if you’re not ready to say goodbye to the summer just yet, you should check out our first annual blockbuster report - containing all the summer blockbuster facts, figures and pie charts you could ever want.

Featuring our very own reflective summer interest curve, alongside complete breakdowns of The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wall-E and more, our blockbuster report will make you an instant expert on all things Summer 2008.

Add that to our first looks at Watchmen, the Inglorious Bastards script, a Steve Coogan Total Film Interview /and/ our chats with picture perfect pin-ups Maggie Grace and Olga Kurylenko and you’re looking at an issue that’ll keep you cosy all through September.

It’s on sale 28 August and don’t forget, Total Film now comes in two sizes - so why not try out our COMPACT EDITION, on shelves now. It’s like Total Film, only easier to fit in your rucksack. Both editions come with a FREE DOUBLE-SIDED QUANTUM OF SOLACE POSTER.

If anyone could get scans, just e-mail them to me at cruisefan@gmail.com

Tom Cruise may be coming to a theater near you sooner than you think.

Valkyrie, Cruise’s upcoming flick about the real-life failed attempt by high-ranking German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler, has been screen-tested for regular ol’ moviegoers in Nevada, I’m hearing.

The audiences weren’t aware of what they would be seeing because they had been blindly solicited to attend a free movie at their local multiplex.

In other words, a test screening could be happening in your neighborhood sometime soon (except, of course, if you live in major cities like Los Angeles or New York, where studios rarely test because audiences in those areas tend to be much more critical and not exactly in tune with the all-important Middle America moviegoers).

I’m told most of the audiences were really diggin’ the flick. “They liked it,” a source says. “Most people said it was a suspense thriller.”

As you may have heard, the Bryan Singer-directed flick, which also includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson, has been hit with some bad buzz because its original June 2008 release date has been moved at least three times.

But in the end, the movie will be released Dec. 26, a date traditionally reserved for films believed be good enough to scoop up some awards.

An Industry awards-campaign veteran explains, “Usually, any movie like Valkyrie that’s released at that time, they think they have a shot at an Oscar. It’s hard to tell because of everything surrounding Valkyrie, but Tom could be feeling it will do well during awards season.” (E! Online)

Tom Cruise seems to have regained his cool in Tropic Thunder (* * * out of four).
Cruise’s paunchy studio exec is easily the funniest role of his fairly straight-faced career. Whether barking outlandish orders or gyrating ridiculously, Cruise’s bald-pated, hairy-knuckled movie mogul is outrageously amusing. His boyishly eager businessman from Risky Business has grown into a cynical jerk of a studio chief — but he has updated his dance moves. Though it can’t be an easy feat to go up against such comedic powerhouses as Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black or Ben Stiller, Cruise proves a formidable co-conspirator in this send-up of Hollywood egos.

This action film parody is surely going to divide people. Not only is it unabashedly politically incorrect, but it is almost a textbook definition of an uneven comedy. There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it’s funny, it’s really funny.

Stiller flexes his muscles as action star Tugg Speedman, who routinely saves the world as the star of the Scorcher series. Black plays Jeff Portnoy, who is tired of being celebrated for his girth and prodigious flatulence and wants to try something serious. But serious drama is all Kirk Lazarus, the five-time Oscar winner from Australia, has ever known. Downey plays the blond, blue-eyed Lazarus as a black man for most of the movie.

These men come together in Southeast Asia to film a Vietnam War movie under the direction of a first-time filmmaker (Steve Coogan), a trigger-happy explosions expert (Danny McBride) and an enigmatic military consultant (Nick Nolte). But things go horribly wrong. (USAToday)

Tom Cruise may only have a small part in Tropic Thunder, but he ruled the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere.

Cruise, who donned a fat suit to play studio exec Les Grossman in the film, stayed close to wife Katie Holmes Monday night, greeting fans and only letting go of her hand to pose for a quick cast shot.

Other than the fans, fellow star were happy to see the couple – PEOPLE caught Matthew McConaughey, Ben Stiller and Jack Black all giving big hugs to Cruise. And costar Jay Baruchel told PEOPLE that Cruise is “the funniest guy in the world.”

Robert Downey Jr., who played an actor posing as an African-American in the film, said he just got out of character after wrapping up the DVD commentary. “The actor, in the movie, said that he never dropped character until the DVD commentary, and in keeping with being a ‘method-idiot,’ I’m never going to do it again,” he said.

Stiller, who wrote, produced and acted in the movie, arrived with his wife Christine Taylor, who also had a cameo (She previously appeared in Stiller’s Zoolander and Dodgeball.) .

“It was so much fun for us,” Taylor said, adding of the third time she costarred with her husband, “I’ve gotten used to [it] through the years.”

Later, Stiller told PEOPLE the secret to their eight-year marriage is “that it’s all about mutual respect, and really being there for that other person. You can’t take anything for granted.”

As for Tropic Thunder facing some controversy, with Downey playing an African American and Stiller playing Simple Jack, a mentally disabled character, Stiller said simply, “It’s a free country.” (People)

bauergriffinonline says Tom & Katie praticed patience while posing, since their photographer’s memory card ran out of space just as the supercouple strolled up:
“Instead of passing on by, Tom and Katie patiently waited for her to swap out cards, smiling and playfully jesting about her professionalism. Then, with the new card in and their star smiles still sticking around, it all played out perfectly. Thanks for your patience, Tom & Katie!”

Having been successful in portraying foul mouthed executive Les Grossman in ‘Tropic Thunder’, the ‘Top Gun’ star has been tipped to line up to voice Shrek’s newest baddie.

Rumor has it that Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise has been considered for a part in “Shrek Goes Fourth”. According to Cinema Blend, the 46-year-old may be on the run to voice one of the villains in the next installment of the Ogre comedic tale. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the truth in Cruise’s participation has yet to be proven.

“Shrek Goes Fourth”, the fourth installment of the hit animation movies from DreamWorks, has been said to be dealing with the origin story of the titular character. Allegedly, it will have its four main actors, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas, back to fill in their characters’ voices. The flick is slated for May 21, 2010 release.

Meanwhile, Cruise has recently made a cameo appearance in the successful comedy movie from Ben Stiller, “Tropic Thunder” which was opened in theaters on August 13. The husband of actress Katie Holmes will next be seen starring as the main character in controversial World War II drama thriller “Valkyrie which is scheduled to be released on December 26.

Source.

That’d be fun!

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has expressed his keenness to work in comedy films, after he enjoyed his cameo appearance in war comedy Tropic Thunder. The Vanilla Sky actor, who is incredibly unrecognizable as a chubby, balding executive in Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, has revealed that the role was an inspiration to make audience laugh further.

“Well, I’m always looking for something new, and Ben’s (Stiller) movie is hilarious, He and I are old friends, and he is a really good director, so originally I said I’d do it just for friendship, but it turned out great,” Contactmusic quoted Cruise, as saying. “I actually love comedy, and I did it in Risky Business, so I’ll do more if it presents itself,” Cruise said.

Tropic Thunder features Cruise alongside actors Robert Downey Junior and Jack Black.

Source

I know I’d love that