Production has been prevented from shooting in some parts of Germany because of Cruise.
I can’t really picture him being able to pull off the role, but who knows?
The story is fascinating. It should make an interesting movie.
I don’t exactly get what the Germans’ concern over the scientology thing is. I mean, everybody in the US (and most places) thinks its a bunch of nonsense, but Cruise keeps his personal & professional lives separate. So there’s never been any conflict between the two. Plus, its not a movie about religion or anything, so why the sudden problem with a Xenu worshiper playing a (good) Nazi?
Stauffenberg’s oldest son even spoke out against him. Have the Germans always had a real problem with the space-monster believers?
Germany’s been opposed to Scientology for at least a decade now. Scientology, besides being a Mecca for lunatics, has a rather dark underbelly. Operation Clambake has some disturbing details on the matter.
There may have been a thread on this before, or I read it somewhere else (my post is my cite!) but the German government doesn’t recognize Scientology as a religion. Instead, it sees Scientology as a scam. Germany’s a little sensitive post WWII about charismatic scammers, so they’re less than pleased about Cruise portraying one of their modern heros.
Well, I don’t think this is strictly accurate. The whole flap a while back between him and Brooke Shields over the appropriateness of psych medications seemed to me to be him using his professional status to promote a personal adgenda.
I think he can do the role. Whatever his shortcomings, he’s not a bad actor.
And didn’t he insist (on one of his films–I think the one with Nicole Kidman called Far and Away or something like that)–that this one company be used for some editing (IMS it was called looping-redoing voice overs) that is Scientology owned or connected? I seem to remember a brouhaha over that…
I can’t see him as Nazi either. William Hurt or Chris Walken…someone who looks like they have an inner life. Tom Cruise isn’t pensive enough.
I supected as much.
Say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, dude, at least it’s an ethos.
Query: was Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg actually a Nazi? He served in the Wehrmacht, and took the oath of allegiance to Hitler, but was he actually a member of the Nazi party? No mention of him joining the Party in the Wiki article on Stauffenberg.
According to this BBC story, the filmmakers have been refused permission to film at the sight of the execution to preserve the building’s “dignity.”
The film is to be called Valkyrie after the plot’s codename - Operation Valkyrie. Kenneth Branagh also stars in the film.
The article also has a photo of Cruise in a Nazi uniform.
I’ve always wondered why Von Stauffenburg’s plot failed-weren’t the guards at the Fueherbunker in on it? I thought they were supposed to finish of Hitler (should he still be alive). In any case I don;t see this guy (von Stauffenburg) as much of a hero-by 1944, it was pretty obvious that germany was going to lose. Offing Hitler in mid-1943 would have made more sense.
If Cruise is unacceptable to the Germans, the studio can always replace him with David Hasselhoff. 
…That’s a German military unifom not a Nazi uniform, if I am not mistaken.
No.
I’ve read a good bit on this (“Bodyguard of Lies”), and I’ve never heard of that. There were very few people keeping a secret that could get you and your family killed just for knowing it, not even acting on it.
The overall plan, IIRC, was to use the army to lock down Berlin after H’s death, and prevent the Gestapo and SS from putting someone into power. Rommel was the only one they could think of that the populace would follow almost automatically, which is why he was in on it, and why he died. He was “allowed” to commit suicide.
The reason the plot failed, was that the briefcase with the bomb, that von Stauffenberg put under the table, was moved when Stauffenberg had left “for a call”, and thus thick oak (?) - one of the tables two “legs” - came between Hitler and the bomb. The explosion was magnificent, and Hitler probably never really recovered from it (hearing, balance, etc), but it didn’t kill him thanks to chance.
This reinforced Hitler in his belief that he was fulfilling a destiny, that he had Destiny on his side. As a matter of fact, he was quite depressed before the bomb, but exhilarated afterwards, showing Mussolini the site, describing it excitingly as “it was like a direct hit by a 120 mm round”. Mussolini was very impressed that the Führer survived this mess.
Anyhow, if the briefcase wouldn’t had been moved, most likely von Stauffenberg would have been successful. This was not the only attemt to kill Hitler; there were several serious attempts by Germans. This was the one closest to succeeed, and also very famous because it made the news at the time.
By they way, there were no guards in on it.
I must have missed something; please give me a link or something where scientology is claimed official reason for Germany’s disapproval.
(That aside, I for one get what the Germans’ concern over the scientology thing is.)
von Stauffenberg was not a nazi, but of the Preussian military heritage who didn’t fancy Hitler much (“The Austrian Corporal”, as they called him), and whom Hitler never acknowledged much. This doesn’t necessarily make him a hero, since obviously neither he nor any other Preussian officer did much about the Corporal until the Red Army got such momentum the defeat was obvious.