Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise has been warned that the $200 million he's borrowed from Merrill Lynch to make the Nazi movie "Valkyrie" for United Artists will end his career and personally bankrupt him.
But his Scientology pals have predicted the blockbuster will gross $500 million and that as executive producer his cut will exceed $125 million if DVD sales and merchandising projections materialise.
The movie is about a Nazi general who attempts to assassinate Hitler because of PR concerns that Hitler's given his Bush family relatives a bad name.
And it exonerates the 14 year old Pope Joseph ratzinger from any war crimes that he committed while in the Hitler Youth movement.
Cruise has told chums that he's found the 'magic formula' for movie success and that "Valkyrie" will flourish.
And his secret ingredient for stratospheric triumph?
Carice van Houten, a so-called "sizzling sexpot" who Merrill Lynch analysts have predicted will become 'more famous, more marketable' than Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears all rolled together.
Other actors on the payroll are said to be Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, Patrick Wilson, Bill Nighy and Stephen Fry.
"With names like that and the blockbuster plot what the hell could ever go wrong?" Cruise said today.
Anytime the name Adolf Hitler is mentioned, there is bound to be controversy. In a new film about a failed assassination attempt on the former Nazi leader, Tom Cruise is set to play Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg in a new film, “Valkyrie.” And the Count’s son is not happy.
Berthold von Stauffenberg is being very vocal about his displeasure over Cruise’s role as his father. “I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr Cruise. It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong - I would like to be,” he told press.
One of von Stauffenberg’s main objections is Cruise’s involvement with the Church of Scientology. He claims that Scientology is not a religion, but rather a “business,” and that the actor’s association with the organization is “off-putting.”
“I am not saying that Cruise is a bad actor - I cannot judge that. But, in any case, I fear that it could turn into horrible kitsch,” he told press.
It is understandable that the son of such a prestigious man would closely guard his father’s memory. After all, the Count led a group of Nazi officers in planting a bomb underneath Hitler’s dinner table. However, Hitler escaped the attempt with only a few injuries.
“He should keep his hands off my father. He should climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don’t care, as long as he stays out of it,” said von Stauffenberg.
Will Tom Cruise continue with his plans to star in “Valkyrie”? It looks like it, as preproduction has already begun, and they will begin filming this summer.
Enjoy the pictures of Tom and Suri saying their goodbyes as they leave France on Friday (June 22).
Numerous voices were raised in Germany on Friday, protesting against American actor and esteemed member of the Church of Scientology Tom Cruise's intention to embody Claus Stauffenberg, the man who organized an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944.
It is embarrassing for me to think that someone who recognizes himself in the Church of Scientology will portray my father, said Berthold Schenk von Stauffenberg, the elder son of one of the heroes of the German resistance movement, admitting however that he was unable to prevent the filming of the movie, which should begin on July 19, with Bryan Singer directing.
''He should keep his hands off my father,“ Stauffenberg told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. ''He should climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don't care, as long as he stays out of it,” he added, not clarifying the reasons why he is opposed to the Church of Scientology.
''I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr Cruise. It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong - I would like to be,'' he said, expressing regret that no one had offered him to read the script, penned by Chris McQuarrie.
Some representatives of the conservative party in power, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), also expressed disapproval of the idea of Cruise portraying Von Stauffenberg.
The movie currently has the title Valkyrie, after the code name Operation Valkyrie, the assassination attempt that was supposed to kill the Nazi dictator on July 20, 1944.
Aristocrat and Catholic, Count Claus von Stauffenberg was executed without trial on the same night at Wehrmacht headquarters in Berlin, the building that now belongs to the German Ministry of Defence.
The oldest son of a German aristocrat behind an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 blasted plans by Tom Cruise to play his father in an upcoming film.
The son of Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg said in an interview in yesterday's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that he objected to the actor's involvement with the Church of Scientology, adding that Cruise "should keep his hands off my father."
"I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr. Cruise," said Berthold von Stauffenberg, 72, referring to plans by the Hollywood star to appear as his father in the film Valkyrie to be made this summer by director Bryan Singer (Superman Returns). He said he feared the film would be "horrible kitsch."
Stauffenberg said Cruise's professed faith in Scientology was "off-putting," adding that the church was not a religion but a "business."
But his Scientology pals have predicted the blockbuster will gross $500 million and that as executive producer his cut will exceed $125 million if DVD sales and merchandising projections materialise.
The movie is about a Nazi general who attempts to assassinate Hitler because of PR concerns that Hitler's given his Bush family relatives a bad name.
And it exonerates the 14 year old Pope Joseph ratzinger from any war crimes that he committed while in the Hitler Youth movement.
Cruise has told chums that he's found the 'magic formula' for movie success and that "Valkyrie" will flourish.
And his secret ingredient for stratospheric triumph?
Carice van Houten, a so-called "sizzling sexpot" who Merrill Lynch analysts have predicted will become 'more famous, more marketable' than Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears all rolled together.
Other actors on the payroll are said to be Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, Patrick Wilson, Bill Nighy and Stephen Fry.
"With names like that and the blockbuster plot what the hell could ever go wrong?" Cruise said today.
Anytime the name Adolf Hitler is mentioned, there is bound to be controversy. In a new film about a failed assassination attempt on the former Nazi leader, Tom Cruise is set to play Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg in a new film, “Valkyrie.” And the Count’s son is not happy.
Berthold von Stauffenberg is being very vocal about his displeasure over Cruise’s role as his father. “I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr Cruise. It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong - I would like to be,” he told press.
One of von Stauffenberg’s main objections is Cruise’s involvement with the Church of Scientology. He claims that Scientology is not a religion, but rather a “business,” and that the actor’s association with the organization is “off-putting.”
“I am not saying that Cruise is a bad actor - I cannot judge that. But, in any case, I fear that it could turn into horrible kitsch,” he told press.
It is understandable that the son of such a prestigious man would closely guard his father’s memory. After all, the Count led a group of Nazi officers in planting a bomb underneath Hitler’s dinner table. However, Hitler escaped the attempt with only a few injuries.
“He should keep his hands off my father. He should climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don’t care, as long as he stays out of it,” said von Stauffenberg.
Will Tom Cruise continue with his plans to star in “Valkyrie”? It looks like it, as preproduction has already begun, and they will begin filming this summer.
Enjoy the pictures of Tom and Suri saying their goodbyes as they leave France on Friday (June 22).
Numerous voices were raised in Germany on Friday, protesting against American actor and esteemed member of the Church of Scientology Tom Cruise's intention to embody Claus Stauffenberg, the man who organized an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944.
It is embarrassing for me to think that someone who recognizes himself in the Church of Scientology will portray my father, said Berthold Schenk von Stauffenberg, the elder son of one of the heroes of the German resistance movement, admitting however that he was unable to prevent the filming of the movie, which should begin on July 19, with Bryan Singer directing.
''He should keep his hands off my father,“ Stauffenberg told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. ''He should climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don't care, as long as he stays out of it,” he added, not clarifying the reasons why he is opposed to the Church of Scientology.
''I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr Cruise. It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong - I would like to be,'' he said, expressing regret that no one had offered him to read the script, penned by Chris McQuarrie.
Some representatives of the conservative party in power, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), also expressed disapproval of the idea of Cruise portraying Von Stauffenberg.
The movie currently has the title Valkyrie, after the code name Operation Valkyrie, the assassination attempt that was supposed to kill the Nazi dictator on July 20, 1944.
Aristocrat and Catholic, Count Claus von Stauffenberg was executed without trial on the same night at Wehrmacht headquarters in Berlin, the building that now belongs to the German Ministry of Defence.
The oldest son of a German aristocrat behind an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 blasted plans by Tom Cruise to play his father in an upcoming film.
The son of Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg said in an interview in yesterday's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that he objected to the actor's involvement with the Church of Scientology, adding that Cruise "should keep his hands off my father."
"I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr. Cruise," said Berthold von Stauffenberg, 72, referring to plans by the Hollywood star to appear as his father in the film Valkyrie to be made this summer by director Bryan Singer (Superman Returns). He said he feared the film would be "horrible kitsch."
Stauffenberg said Cruise's professed faith in Scientology was "off-putting," adding that the church was not a religion but a "business."
Comment