NEW YORK, New York —
After the reasonably strong box office performance of “Valkyrie” over the weekend, skeptics were robbed of the chance to declare “Flop!”

The Tom Cruise WWII thriller earned $21.5 million over the weekend, with a four-day haul of $30 million since it opened on Christmas Day.

That was a solid and better than expected box-office draw for “Valkyrie,” which cost a reported $90 million to produce (director Bryan Singer has pegged it at closer to $75 million) and perhaps more than half that to market it.

“This totally robs the nay-sayers of their ability to deem it a flop, because it’s not,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “It does show the renewed star power of Tom Cruise.”

Dergarabedian credited Cruise’s comic (and Golden Globe nominated) performance in the summer’s “Tropic Thunder” in helping audiences again embrace the actor.

He also noted that a film about Nazis wouldn’t have earned nearly as much without Cruise’s star power and a savvy marketing campaign. That campaign — which positioned “Valkyrie” as a historical thriller and led to an audience that MGM said skewed 55 percent male — helped turn back earlier bad publicity.

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BERLIN (AFP) — US actor Tom Cruise was “deeply moved” by playing the would-be assassin of Adolf Hitler in the movie “Valkyrie,” he said in an interview with a German magazine released on Tuesday.

“All I can say is that I was deeply moved by the experience,” Cruise told Bunte magazine in comments translated into German.

In the film, which premiered in the United States on December 25 and opens in much of Europe next month, Cruise plays Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, a Prussian aristocrat who played a key role in a July 20, 1944 plot to kill Hitler.

Von Stauffenberg placed a bomb under a table in Hitler’s eastern headquarters in East Prussia, in modern day Poland, but the German leader escaped with slight injuries because the briefcase was behind a solid leg of the oak table.

Von Stauffenberg and other conspirators were rounded up and executed by firing squad — a fate which Cruise said saddened but also inspired him. He also said it was one of his most challenging parts.

The filming of the movie caused unease in Germany because of fears of how Hollywood would treat the episode and because of Cruise’s membership of the Church of Scientology.

Authorities initially denied the makers of “Valkyrie” permission to film at the Bendlerblock, a complex of buildings in Berlin where Operation Valkyrie was planned and where von Stauffenberg and other conspirators were executed.

(Source: AFP)

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Tom Cruise will visit Korea for the first time in seven years as part of a promotional tour for his upcoming movie, “Valkyrie.’’

The 46-year-old actor will arrive with filmmaker Bryan Singer and stay for two days, appearing at a red carpet event, Jan. 17 and at a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, Jan. 18. According to 20th Century Fox Korea, Korea is the only Asian country the two figures will visit during their tour.

Based on a true story, “Valkyrie,’’ is set in Nazi Germany during World War II and tells the story of Tom Cruise will visit Korea for the first time in seven years as part of a promotional tour for his upcoming movie, “Valkyrie.’’

The 46-year-old actor will arrive with filmmaker Bryan Singer and stay for two days, appearing at a red carpet event, Jan. 17 and at a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, Jan. 18. According to 20th Century Fox Korea, Korea is the only Asian country the two figures will visit during their tour.

Based on a true story, “Valkyrie,’’ is set in Nazi Germany during World War II and tells the story of German officers scheming to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters in the film.

The star of hit movies “Mission Impossible’’ (1996) and “Jerry Maguire’’ (1996), Cruise has visited Korea three times to promote “Interview with the Vampire’’ (1994), “Mission Impossible 2’’ (2000) and “Vanilla Sky’’ (2001).

He recently received rave reviews for his comic performance in the film “Tropic Thunder,’’ which also gained him a Golden Globe nomination.

While Cruise will be meeting local fans for the fourth time, it is the first visit to Korea for Singer, who has a large fan base among science fiction and comic book fans for the hit movies “The Usual Suspects’’ (1995), “X-Men’’ (2000) and “Superman Returns’’ (2006).

Valkyrie will be in local theaters, Jan. 22.

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Tom & Kate are one Access Hollywood’s top 5 couples of 2008. They have the #4 spot, with Brad & Angelina, Will & Jada and David & Victoria Beckham on the numbers 1 to 3. The #5 spot is for Barack & Michelle Obama.

If you want to watch Access Hollywood‘s video about these couples, click here.

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“I want 10 children,” the 46-year-old said.

“I love kids. I feel really fortunate to have the teenagers and a 2 1/2-year-old. It’s a great dynamic.”

The actor has a daughter, Suri, 2 1/2, and his two adopted children, Isabella, 16, and Connor, 13.

Cruise also had some kind words for his wife, Katie Holmes, 30, who has moved the family to New York City for her Broadway debut in All My Sons.

“I feel lucky to have Kate as my wife,” he said.

“She’s an extraordinary woman. She is funny and smart and she likes the same things that I do.

“She’s a very strong, gracious woman, and a great comedian.”

(Source: Herald Sun)

Showbiz Spy has published more quotes from Tom on his lovely wife Kate:

Tom Cruise: ‘Katie Holmes is an Extraordinary Woman’

Cruise has nothing but kind words for the former Dawson’s Creek actress.

He says, “Married life is very good, very lovely. I feel lucky to have Kate as my wife. She’s an extraordinary woman. She is funny and smart and she likes the same things that I do.

“She’s a very strong, gracious woman, and a great comedian.

“I like doing romantic things, such as bringing flowers and surprising her with things. I love candlelit evenings with nice music.

“If I’m worried about anything, it’s if she can keep up with me. I’m very active.

“A couple of hours after meeting her, I thought, ‘I’m going to marry this woman.’ I just knew.”

(Source: Showbiz spy)

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Director Bryan Singer has succeeded in bringing out an appreciable fusion of history and conspiracy in this thriller. An appealing dramatization of a historic episode and exceptional performances by the international cast, supporting Cruise – Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh – has resulted in a story that would fascinate the audiences!

(Source: TopNews)

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The tight World War II thriller “Valkyrie” lugs a steamer trunk full of undeserved baggage: producer/star Tom Cruise’s celebrity meltdown, chatter about a rough production, speculation about accents. There’s also the ridiculous cultural expectation that every WWII movie since “Saving Private Ryan” has to be some kind of Oscar-baiting Important Statement About War.

I hope gossip-choked moviegoers can see past all that because it has nothing to do with what matters: the story onscreen. “Valkyrie” works as intended: as a taut, unpretentious and unapologetically old-school WWII flick where the accents are all over the place and you’re too caught up to notice.

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High stakes, high tension: Riveting WWII thriller a must for history buffs

“Valkyrie” pits Tom Cruise against Adolf Hitler in what at first blush sounds like a particularly surreal title bout in MTV’s claymation smackdown series, “Celebrity Deathmatch.”

Casting the Tominator as Count Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the German army officer who led a near-miss plot to assassinate Der Führer in July 1944, was almost enough to sink a production that was rife with public troubles — many stemming from Cruise’s affiliation with Scientology, which gives the German government major heartburn.

In the end, director Bryan Singer delivers an impressive final product: crisp, sharp cinematography; digitally juiced sound that you feel in your bones; taut performances; and a driving script that keeps the tension rising in a steady upward arc.

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‘Valkyrie’ is called “the biggest surprise of the season” in this review. “It’s a history lesson, but told with passion, style and action. And with so many holiday films proving to be such a downer, the strong message conveyed in this film is surprisingly positive and serves as a nice parable of the current world (and politics) we live in.” Read the review here:

The X-Men director Bryan Singer and Tom Cruise team up for great new thriller that surprises at every turn

The assassination of Adolf Hitler during World War II is the crux of Valkyrie, a real-life tale transformed into a crackerjack thriller under the helm of Bryan Singer and his The Usual Suspects cohort Christopher McQuarrie (who co-writes here with Nathan Alexander).

There’s fine attention paid to detail as the story slowly unravels showcasing several German officers plotting to get rid of Hitler and then stage an expertly planned coup to eliminate his cronies and their philosophies from continuing to be in power.

Spearheading the operation is Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) whose loyalties for Nazi Germany was fading on the battlefield, which ultimately took his hand, eye and dignity.

He has a pretty smart plan of how to take Hitler’s own contingency plan “Project Valkyrie” and use it against him – which results in some excellent suspense set pieces and taut pacing.

What could have been a muddied exercise in convoluted thriller plotting, turns into a very streamlined and sleek film. It doesn’t mess around much with too much characterization, not does it go further than face-value politics which makes the story easy for anyone to grasp.

The acting is top notch with Cruise giving a solid performance as Von Stauffenberg. The supporting cast is just as game with Nighy and Wilkinson in particular standing out.

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“The film’s final half-hour achieves maximum dramatic heft as conflicting reports of Hitler’s fate present the characters with difficult choices. The fact that the audience already knows which option will lead to their downfall hardly matters. If anything, the knowledge the viewer brings to the film enhances the drama.”
The supporting cast is altogether excellent”, “Kenneth Branagh makes a strong impression”, “Cruise practically shakes with intensity but doesn’t upset the careful balance of the ensemble piece”.
‘Valkyrie’ is “a slick slice of historical intrigue — one that manages to keep the viewer engaged from start to inevitable finish.” Read the entire review here:

The makers of Valkyrie seemingly faced a mission impossible: create suspense out of a failed plot (spoiler!) to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

And yet the glossy Hollywood product works like gangbusters — a historical thriller loaded with tension and paced like a Messerschmitt.

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