“BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany has barred the makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler from filming at German military sites because its star Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.
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Cruise, also one of the film’s producers, is a member of the Church of Scientology which the German government does not recognize as a church. Berlin says it masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.

The U.S. actor has been cast as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, leader of the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Nazi dictator in July 1944 with a bomb hidden in a briefcase.

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said the film makers “will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult.”

“In general, the Bundeswehr (German military) has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg’s person,” Kammerbauer said.

Cruise’s publicists could not be reached for comment.

Stauffenberg had been deeply opposed to the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews and planted a briefcase bomb under a table near Hitler in his “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters on July 20, 1944. The bomb went off but only wounded the Fuehrer.

The film, slated for a 2008 release and to be directed by Bryan Singer and co-starring Kenneth Branagh, is called “Valkyrie” after Operation Valkyrie, the plot’s codename.

The main site of interest would be the “Bendlerblock” memorial inside the Defense Ministry complex in Berlin. This is where Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators hatched the plot and where he and his closest comrades were executed when it failed.

Kammerbauer said the ministry had not yet received official filming requests from the producers of “Valkyrie.” ”

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By Adam Hetrick
19 Jun 2007

A host of theatre veterans are set to join Tom Cruise in the upcoming World War II drama “Valkyrie.”

According to Variety, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Carice Van Houten and Eddie Izzard will take part in the film, based on a true story, about a German general’s attempt to assassinate Hitler.

Bryan Singer directs the production, which is scheduled to begin filming in Berlin July 19. Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander co-wrote the screenplay for United Artists.

Nighy was recently seen on Broadway opposite Julianne Moore in David Hare’s The Vertical Hour. Eddie Izzard, who was last seen on Broadway in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, has numerous London stage credits including the title role in the Lenny Bruce musical Lenny and David Mamet’s Cryptogram.

Among Branagh’s theatrical credits are the successful London production and Broadway transfer of The Play What I Wrote, which he directed, as well as David Mamet’s Edmond, in which he appeared on the London Stage. Carice Van Houten has won numerous awards for her stage and television work in her native Netherlands. Tom Wilkinson, a RADA member and award-winning actor for his stage work in Ghosts and An Enemy of the People, is best known for his Academy Award-nominated work in “The Full Monty” and “In the Bedroom.” (Source: Playbill)

Casting Call: Tom Cruise’s New Leading Lady
Tom Cruise gets a new leading lady!
Carice Van Houten has signed on to star opposite Tom Cruise in “Valkyrie,” the World War II-set feature film, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Story is based on true-life attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler during the height of WWII.

Also joining Cruise and Van Houten in the cast are Tom Wilkinson and Kenneth Branagh.

This will mark the first U.S. feature role for Van Houten, who has starred in several European films. She will play the love interest to Cruise’s main character. (Source: Access Hollywood)

Van Houten joins Cruise for ‘Valkyrie’
By Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit

June 19, 2007

Carice Van Houten is set to play the female lead opposite Tom Cruise in Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie” for United Artists. Tom Wilkinson also has joined the World War II-set drama.

Penned by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, the story is based on the true-life attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Kenneth Branagh already has joined the cast.

Singer, Paula Wagner and McQuarrie are producing the film, which will begin shooting in July in Berlin.

Van Houten, who will play the love interest to Cruise’s character in the film, enjoyed a breakout performance in Paul Verhoeven’s Nazi drama “Black Book.” The classically trained actress also is a theater veteran in her native Netherlands.

She is repped by CAA.

Wilkinson, whose recent credits include “Batman Begins,” “Separate Lies” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” was nominated for an Academy Award for 2002’s “In the Bedroom.”

He is repped by Lou Coulson in the U.K. and Larry Taube at Principal Entertainment. (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

Dutch actress Carice van Houten, who starred in Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book (AKA “Zwartboek”), has landed a role in director Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie, says her manager. It will be her fist American feature and she’ll play the wife of Tom Cruise.

Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Patrick Wilson, Stephen Fry and Tom Wilkinson co-star in the thriller, in which German generals hatch a scheme to assassinate Adolph Hitler at the height of WWII. It is based on actual events.

Shooting is set to take place in Berlin this July and October. United Artists will distribute in 2008. (ComingSoon.net)

Who is Carice van Houten, you might ask? Well, read the following opinion by the reporter of Cinematical.com:
Anyone who has seen the masterful Black Book knows that Carice van Houten is destined for major, lasting stardom, and Hollywood seems to be catching on quickly. We’ve been hearing rumours for a while now that van Houten is in consideration for the female lead in the next James Bond adventure, but if Eva Green’s casting timetable is any guide, the deal could potentially go unannounced for another eight months, if it happens. Still, van Houten isn’t cooling her heels — after recently signing on for an indie project about South African poet Ingrid Jonker, she’s now landed a role in a major Hollywood production. She’s signed on to Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie, presumably as Nina von Stauffenberg, the 30 year-old wife of Tom Cruise’s character, a German general who plots to assassinate Hitler. In leaked excerpts from the script online, Nina von Stauffenberg is described only as a “beautiful, dignified” woman. The stock in this project just skyrocketed, in my opinion.

Valkyrie is ramping up shooting in July, and is expected to be wrapped well before 2008. Also, as I previously mentioned, the Jonker biopic is lensing around Europe and will undoubtedly be a quick shoot, not some drawn out, protracted thing, so van Houten’s commitments have not yet put her out of the running for Bond. Heads up, Barbara Broccoli — her price isn’t getting any lower. Complete the deal now, so that you can have the next Garbo in your Bond film. (Cinematical.com)

More on the movie itself:
The film, which will be directed by ‘The Usual Suspects’ director Bryan Singer, will mark Houten’s American debut, Moviehole quoted Nu.nl, as stating.
Others signed for the film are actors Kenneth Branagh, Patrick Wilson Stephen Fry and Tom Wilkinson.
The film, which is based on the ‘July Plot’ of German officials to assassinate Hitler, is set to start filming from July in Berlin.
Cruise will portray the leader of the plot, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
Branagh will play a German general who guides Cruise’s character, and hatches the plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander will pen the script for the film.
United Artists (UA), owned by Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, was approached by Singer and McQuarrie.
The project will be UA’s second venture since its establishment in 2006. (ANI)

Carice about the part:
Cruise was so impressed by her after watching ‘Black book’, that he had his castingdirector call the Dutch actress. She of course responded enthusiastic, says her manager. “When you are told you can play along Tom Cruise in a movie, you are cheering of course.”

Van Houten and Cruise will play a married couple. Her manager says Carice’s part isn’t big. “But she has the only feminine role in the movie.” (RTL Boulevard)