Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Casting, Celebrities and Controversy, War
Back in March when Chris Ullrich brought word of Bryan Singer's World War II thriller Valkyrie -- about Nazi officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who carried out a failed assassination attempt against Hitler in 1944 -- he mentioned that the von Stauffenberg family wasn't too keen on the casting of Tom Cruise as the famous Nazi. While some months have passed, faith in Tom hasn't increased. In fact, von Stauffenberg's son says that the actor: "should keep his hands off my father." I'm sure that this won't deter Cruise at all, and he'll do what he can to prove the son wrong -- he already did it with Anne Rice and Lestat, but then again, one is a fictional character, and the other is a flesh and blood family member.If complaints were due to Cruise's acting or the like, I could understand it, but it seems that this is all due to the actor's deep commitment to the Church of Scientology. While I could see that being relevant in a story about Jesus or something else that's religious, I don't see how someone disliking body thetans makes any difference in a story about war and assassination. Yet the von Stauffenberg offspring says that Cruise's roots in Scientology are "off-putting" and that he fears that the film "could turn into horrible kitsch." But he won't stop it; he just wants to complain and hope that Cruise leaves the project: "He should climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don't care, as long as he stays out of it." I really doubt he'll get his wish, as the film goes into production this summer with Cruise and co-stars Kenneth Branaugh, Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Carice van Houten.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
