Posted on 05/11/2008 6:57:08 AM PDT by null and void
The fortunes of Hollywood actor Tom Cruise have suffered a blow with the news that his next big film has been postponed until 2009.
The release of Valkyrie, which tells the story of the 1944 assassination plot against Hitler, was first postponed from this summer to the autumn and is now not expected to appear until next year.
“We were originally expecting the film to be released in June,” said a senior executive at one of Britain’s leading cinema chains.
“I know there have been all sorts of problems with this production and we will not be screening it at all this year.”
The film is not only a blow to Cruise as an actor but in his more recent incarnation as a movie mogul at United Artists (UA), the studio which made the film.
One critic in Hollywood has declared “Valkyrie is dead”, with another arguing that the film’s problems could also wreck the revival of UA.
Cruise, whose earlier career saw hit after hit with Top Gun, Rain Man and Jerry Maguire, is a stakeholder in UA, which was originally founded by Charlie Chaplin and other stars.
It has since passed through several different owners until Cruise relaunched it as a major studio in 2006.
Cruise, who is married to the actress Katie Holmes, has a minority stake with his business partner Paula Wagner, but the pair have almost total control over which films are made.
UA’s first major film, Lions for Lambs, a story about the Iraq war with Cruise and Meryl Streep starring and Robert Redford directing, flopped.
Valkyrie has been directed by Bryan Singer, who is best known for The Usual Suspects and X-Men. The new film, which was mostly shot last year at a cost of £45m, has so far left test audiences unimpressed.
The quality of Cruise’s German accent was widely commented on. The film has also had to have reshoots after footage was damaged in labs.
Cruise plays the German officer Claus von Stauffenberg, who led the plot. Other German parts are played by British actors, including Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh.
A flop would not be good news either for Branagh, who directed three films last year – The Magic Flute, As You Like It and Sleuth – all of which had mixed reviews.
However, Branagh has usually fared better as an actor. He won awards for the film Conspiracy in 2001, where he played the Nazi bureaucrat Reinhard Heydrich, who chaired the conference during the second world war at which the policy of exterminating Jews was decided upon.
Roger Friedman, who has a widely read film blog and a column on foxnews.com, recently advised Cruise, who was formerly married to Nicole Kidman, to “do another Jerry Maguire-like comedy” to get his acting career back on track.
The Sea Org wanted their uniforms back...
Cruise as Hitler... brilliant! ;)
We rented Lions for Lambs this weekend.
It was horrible — just flaming sh** propaganda.
No redeeming quality to be found in it.
No wonder his attempt to resurrect UA is failing.
I’ll ask again...how is a movie that ends (or at least should end) with Tom Cruise’s character getting executed by firing squad not an automatic massive box-office hit?
I wondered where that film went. It must be pretty politically charged if it was shelved during an election year. Cruise should do a bio-pic about L. Ron Hubbard and how Scientology really got started. ;o)
Because most people want to see him shot but are unwilling to pay $10 and sit for 2 hours for the privilege.
Of course Hitler was much taller.
It was so bad that it even flopped in liberaltown USA.
Gee a completely made up and bogus story that has zero reality in it, is shown to a Nation fighting in that very country after it swept the Taliban off of the land in a brilliant display of projection of force and it didn’t sell? Shocking
I hope that both UA and T Cruise fade away.
If he stood on a box...
But Cruise can jump higher...
I don’t care what anyone says or thinks about Cruise, he’s a great actor. Most of his movies are good, and I suspect this one is too. Yeah, Lions For Lambs was absolutely horrible even without the left political bent, and he belongs to some wacked out cult, but the guy has talent and knows what makes for good entertainment.
“I’ll ask again...how is a movie that ends (or at least should end) with Tom Cruise’s character getting executed by firing squad not an automatic massive box-office hit?”
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I recall hearing about audiences cheering when Steve Seagal’s character gets killed early on in “Executive Decision.”
(Good movie, David Suchet, best known for his Hercule Poirot, has got to be the scariest “A-rab terrorist” character ever).
Napoleon was actually of average stature for his era.
I don’t care what anyone says or thinks about Cruise, he’s a great actor.
No argument there...
Cruise is in the process of rehabbing his public image and marketability which has taken a big hit in recent years due to his Scientology weirdness and "Lions for Lambs" fiasco.
Word on the street is that his uncredited cameo as a balding, vulgar film producer in a fat suit in the upcoming Ben Stiller comedy "Tropic Thunder" had studio execs rolling with laughter. Cruise has also been talking with Judd Apatow, whose penchant for turning mid-budget comedies into box office gold could possibly help re-brand Cruise as a bankable comic actor. Additionally, his "normal" appearances on Oprah were designed to try and remind audiences why they liked him in the first place.
In addition to being a successful actor, Cruise is a business man who is well aware of the "brand" value of a Hollywood actor. Releasing an ego-driven project like "Valkyrie" could set back the strides he's been making to help audiences forget about the last few years.
Tremendous understatement.
Probably recoup the cost of the picture.
Reminds me of one the the best parts of the movie Gettysburg - getting to watch Ted Turner die.
Yeah, but wasn’t that on TV? Not only included in a package with your cable, but with a DVR you get to keep rewinding and watching it over and over.
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