Valkyrie (film)

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Valkyrie
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Bryan Singer
Produced by	Christopher McQuarrie Bryan Singer Gilbert Adler Chris Lee
Written by	Christopher McQuarrie Nathan Alexander
Starring	Tom Cruise Christian Berkel Kenneth Branagh Kevin McNally Carice van Houten Bill Nighy David Schofield Terence Stamp
Music by	John Ottman
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Editing by	John Ottman
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer United Artists
Release date(s)	December 26, 2008
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$75 million (official) to $90 million (reported)

Valkyrie is a 2008 historical thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Tom Cruise. The film is based on the 20 July plot of 1944 of German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and marks the re-teaming of Singer and producer/screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. Cruise will portray the leader of the plot, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.

Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of Stauffenberg's family due to the actor's practice of Scientology, though German newspapers and filmmakers gave support to the film to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's attempted plot. The filmmakers of Valkyrie initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany, but they were later given leeway to film in locations pertaining to the film's story, such as Berlin's historic Bendlerblock.

The release date for Valkyrie has changed numerous times, including a brief move to February 14, 2009. After several positive test screenings, the film's release was moved up to December 26, 2008.

1 Premise
2 Cast
3 Production
4 German response
5 Release
6 References
7 External links

Premise

During World War II, German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded in Africa and returns home to Nazi Germany. Stauffenberg helps conceive Operation Valkyrie, a plan approved by Adolf Hitler which, in order to manage turmoil within Germany, would implement a shadow government in the event of the Nazi Führer's death.

The Colonel eventually joins the German Resistance and becomes part of the July 20 plot, a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and execute Valkyrie in order to take control of the country and make peace with the Allies. Stauffenberg finds himself taking on not only the responsibility of leading the coup, but also the task to assassinate Hitler himself.^[1]

Cast

Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a German World War II colonel and Catholic aristocrat who leads the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Describing Stauffenberg's heroism, Cruise said "I thought of it in terms of what Stauffenberg represents. He was someone who realized that he had to take the steps that ultimately cost him his life... He recognized what was at stake." Stauffenberg lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers on his left hand in an Allied attack in Tunisia, so Cruise affected the same disabilities to practice dressing, moving items and writing.^[2] Until reading the script, Cruise knew little of von Stauffenberg's part in the plot. Cruise prepared for the role for eight months; he hired a researcher, studied history books, and spoke with some of von Stauffenberg's family.^[3]
Kenneth Branagh as Major General Henning von Tresckow, the architect of the plot.^[4]
Christian Berkel as Colonel Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim.^[4]
Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht.^[4]
David Schofield as Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben.^[4]

Cast (left to right): Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel, Bill Nighy, Tom Cruise, Terrence Stamp, David Schofield and Kenneth Brannagh

Terrence Stamp as Colonel General Ludwig Beck, former Heer chief of staff.^[4]
Kevin McNally as Carl Goerdeler, former Oberbürgermeister of Leipzig.^[4]

Others:

Carice van Houten as von Stauffenberg's wife, Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg.^[5]
David Bamber as Adolf Hitler.^[6]
Eddie Izzard as Erich Fellgiebel.^[7]
Tom Wilkinson as Friedrich Fromm.^[8]
Thomas Kretschmann as Otto Ernst Remer.^[9]
Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg as Hermann Göring.^[10]
Anton Algrang as Albert Speer.^[11]
Matthias Freihof as Heinrich Himmler.^[12]
Werner Daehn as Ernst John von Freyend.^[13]

Stephen Fry,^[14] Ian McNeice,^[15] and Tom Hollander^[15] will appear in the film. Patrick Wilson was originally cast in Valkyrie, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and other unspecified reasons.^[16] Some of the non-German actors initially experimented with German accents, but Singer discarded the idea, instead instructing them to adopt neutral accents that "[wouldn't] distract from the story".^[3]

Production

Development

German World War II colonel Stauffenberg (left) and actor Tom Cruise (right). Cruise was attracted to the role based on the resemblance of his profile to the colonel's.

After director Bryan Singer completed the three major productions X-Men (2000), X2 (2003) and Superman Returns (2006), he sought a smaller project before embarking upon the (eventually aborted) Superman sequel.^[3]^[17] In late 2006, Singer learned that screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie had developed a World War II screenplay with Nathan Alexander. Set in Nazi Germany, it was framed as a thriller that would be a multi-character ensemble piece. Singer expressed interest in directing and McQuarrie suggested they bring the project to United Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to finance the film in March of 2007.^[18] The script is based on the actual events of German generals plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler during World War II. Singer invited Tom Cruise to take the lead role, which Cruise accepted.^[19] Cruise had been provided a picture of Stauffenberg, in which the actor noticed a similarity in his profile with the German colonel, drawing him to the role.^[20]

The producers of Valkyrie expressed interest in filming at Bendlerblock, a memorialized location where Stauffenberg and his comrades had plotted to assassinate Hitler.^[21] Germany's Finance Ministry had originally denied the producers the right to film at Bendlerblock, explaining that the site should be treated as a "place of remembrance and mourning" which would "lose dignity if we were to exploit it as a film set". The producers were also denied a request to film at a Berlin police station by the department, citing adverse impact to the facility.^[22] The German government eventually had a change of heart concerning the Bendlerblock site and gave permission for filmmakers to shoot there.^[23] A United Artists spokesman said that they were "very grateful" for the decision, saying that the site "[had] always been important to us symbolically, creatively and for the sake of historical authenticity" and that the company had been in continuous talks with the German government in order to clear up any misconceptions about the nature of the film.^[24]

Filming

Production began on July 18 2007 in Berlin.^[25] The German Federal Film Fund issued €4.8 million^[26] (US$6.64 million) to United Artists to assist with production, adding to an initial total of a US$80 million production budget, two-thirds of which were spent in Germany.^[27] The filmmakers received permission to film at Tempelhof International Airport's Columbia Haus, a former Nazi jail for political prisoners. Production also involved World War II planes with swastikas painted on the sides, practicing in the airspace above Brandenburg.^[28] Around 70 sets were built for the film.^[3] A replica set of Hitler's Eastern front headquarters Wolf's Lair was constructed 60 kilometers south of Berlin, though the headquarters' actual location was in modern-day Poland.^[28] Filming also took place in some of the houses which were used to hide the bombs in 1944.^[29] The production made use of surviving Nazi relics, including furniture used by the Reich Ministry and objects that once adorned Hitler's desk.^[3] Nazi symbols, the display of which is usually illegal in Germany, were also used at several locations, and while the filmmakers gave forewarnings to local residents,^[25] a passerby witnessing the use of swastikas during filming in Berlin filed an official complaint with the city. Similar charges have also been filed against the owners of sites set up to show Nazi displays for the film's production.^[30] Filming has also taken place at Babelsberg Studios.^[31] During filming on August 19, 2007, eleven people were hurt when the side panel of a truck they were riding broke, with one person requiring hospitalization.^[32] They demanded $11 million in compensation.^[33]

Before filming the scene of Stauffenberg's execution at Bendlerblock, Tom Cruise led the cast and crew in holding a moment of silence,^[34] "out of respect for the place and out of respect for the life achievement of these people who were executed there," according to actor Christian Berkel.^[35] After filming of the scene was completed, the footage was sent to be developed for the post-production process at a processing plant in Germany. The wrong chemical was accidentally used in development, damaging the film and requiring the crew to seek permission from the government to re-shoot the scenes. Permission was granted and a spokesman for the film indicated the schedule and budget had not been affected.^[36]^[37]

After the production was unable to find a suitable location for the key battle sequence at the beginning of the film set in North Africa, in which von Stauffenberg loses his eye and hand, production was halted while locations were scouted.^[38] In April 2008, Singer was reported to film the desert sequences in the coming two months, possibly in the United States.^[39] In the following June, production took place in Victor Valley, California.^[40] The studio reported that its production budget was $75 million, but competing studios believe it to be closer to $90 million.^[41]

Post-production

The film's visual effects are being created by Sony Pictures Imageworks.^[42] In the post-production process, editor and composer John Ottman edited the film without a temp track. Ottman originally planned to compose a minimal score to Valkyrie, but found that despite the film's dialogue-heavy nature, the film needed music to create a thriller atmosphere. Ottman described the new approach, "It's very much like Usual Suspects – in order to keep the tension going in a scene where there's really a lot of dialogue, we had to rely on a lot of score. But the score is done in a very sort of pulsating, subliminal way. It's not an expository score, it's more like a running pulse going through the movie."^[43]

German response

Stauffenberg played an important role in the military resistance against the Nazi regime and in the [German military's] self-perception [...] A sincere and respectable depiction of the events of the 20th of July and of Stauffenberg is therefore very much in Germany's interest. Tom Cruise, with his Scientology background, is not the right person for this.
—German Defense Ministry Spokesperson Harald Kammerbauer, June 2007.^[30]

In June 2007, prior to production, a German Defense Ministry spokesperson said that filming of Valkyrie would not be allowed at the country's military sites if protagonist Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was portrayed by Tom Cruise, due to the actor's adherence to Scientology, which has been labeled a dangerous cult by the German authorities. The spokesperson further indicated that the ministry had not at that time received official filming requests from Valkyrie's producers.^[21] Colonel von Stauffenberg's son also voiced concerns over Cruise's portrayal of his father, saying that he would not oppose the film's production, but hoped that Cruise would drop the role. "I fear that only terrible kitsch will come out of the project. It's bound to be rubbish," Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg said. "Cruise should keep his hands off my father."^[44] Later in the month, the ministry reversed its stance and welcomed production of Valkyrie. The initial controversy reportedly stemmed from German member of parliament Antje Blumenthal, an authority on cults for the conservative Christian Democratic Union and well-known opponent of Scientology, who had claimed that the German Defense Minister had assured her that the film would not be shot in the country.^[45] In addition, Cruise was attacked by junior politicians such as Rudolf Köberle, the state secretary for interior issues in the state of Baden-Württemberg, who also cited Cruise's affiliation with Scientology.^[6] Thomas Gandow, a spokesperson for the German Protestant Church, said Cruise's involvement in the film would "have the same propaganda advantages for Scientology as the 1936 Olympics had for the Nazis" and compared the actor to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.^[46]

Some of the family have spoken out because they don't think it will do the story justice and others don't think the casting is ideal, but I totally disagree, especially after I met Tom and saw how he is approaching the role with such professionalism. I think most of the family are curious to see the finished film.
—Philipp von Schulthess, grandson of Colonel von Stauffenberg, September 2007.^[47]

The film subsequently found some local support in Germany. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck considered Cruise's involvement would promote awareness of a neglected story,^[22] and veteran German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl also gave his support to the production.^[28] A grandson of Colonel von Stauffenberg, who is appearing in the film as an assistant, hailed Cruise's professionalism and indicated that most of his family were curious to see the finished product.^[47] In September 2007, when the Defense Ministry initially denied permission for filming at the Bendlerblock memorial, support for the film came in from German newspaper columnists and filmmakers, including director Wolfgang Petersen^[23] and Frank Schirrmacher, journalist and co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Schirrmacher visited the set and agreed that the film would advance global awareness of the German Resistance. Ultimately granting access to the Bendlerblock after reviewing the script, the Defense Ministry said it showed that "barbarism didn't triumph but led to the founding of a democratic Germany". Ursula Caberta, who is in charge of a German government office which monitors Scientology, was disappointed in the ministry's decision, saying, "Tom Cruise [is] a figurehead of an anti-constitutional organization, and he should be treated that way."^[30]

A spokesperson for Scientology in Berlin, Sabine Weber, said in August 2007 that she was "shocked" by German politicians' criticisms, adding that it was a "call to discrimination" against someone based on their religious beliefs.^[48] In the same month, Cruise suggested to his critics that they see the film before denouncing it.^[49] In October 2007, fellow Valkyrie actor Kenneth Branagh said that the issue had been "largely exaggerated" and that the German official who initially incited the complaints contacted the production one week into filming to apologize, after reading the script and realizing he had misinterpreted the film's plot.^[29]

In November 2007, the head of the German Resistance Memorial Center warned against any potential "myth formation" around von Stauffenberg as a result of the film, urging that any understanding of the Colonel must also be informed by the fact that he had been loyal to the Nazi cause for most of his military career.^[50] In the same month Cruise was given a Bambi courage award, presented by German media company Hubert Burda Media, "for tackling a story that had never been covered by Hollywood before".^[51]

Release

Valkyrie is intended to be a high-profile film that would jump-start United Artists, the host studio owned by the film's star Tom Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner.^[41] Pressure was placed on Valkyrie to do well since an earlier United Artists film, Lions for Lambs, performed poorly in the box office, and the studio's planned production of Oliver Stone's Pinkville was canceled.^[52] The film changed release dates multiple times,^[41] being originally slated to be released in August 8, 2008,^[53] moving up earlier to June 27, 2008,^[54] then being held off to October 3, 2008 to avoid competition from WALL-E and Wanted,^[55] and to enable the filming of a key battle sequence, after the production was unable to find a suitable location for the scenes.^[38] The date was also originally chosen to increase the film's chances of awards success.^[56] In April 2008, the release date was pushed back to February 13, 2009, with the studio citing the early fall schedule as too crowded with Academy Award prospects.^[39] Valkyrie would have taken advantage of the lucrative President's Day weekend, after The Wolf Man and The Pink Panther 2 were moved from this date.^[57] By August 2008, the release date was changed to December 26, 2008 with reports citing commercial reasons for the move after a successful test screening.^[58] The changing release date for Valkyrie drew criticism about the viability of United Artists, and the studio aimed to combat the criticism leading up to the film's eventual release.^[39] In addition, the first theatrical trailer, released early in 2008, received "mixed buzz" over Tom Cruise portraying Stauffenberg with an American accent.^[59] In July 2008, United Artists president of worldwide marketing Dennis Rice was replaced by Michael Vollman, who was tasked to develop a marketing strategy for the "troubled" Valkyrie,^[60] which had been "battered by constant media sniping".^[61] In the following August, partner Paula Wagner left her position with the studio during the film's post-production.^[62]

As the December release date approached, United Artists launched a campaign to reform public perception of the film, downplaying the role of Tom Cruise as a German war hero due to "knee-jerk hostility" and instead pitching Valkyrie as "a character-driven suspense thriller". The studio plans to forego an Academy Award campaign and focus instead on audience appeal in a competitive time frame in late December.^[41] A second theatrical trailer and a new poster were unveiled in October 2008 by United Artists to renew Valkyrie's viability with audiences and accolades. The poster was designed to have flashy graphics and to emulate the posters from the war films The Great Escape (1963) and The Dirty Dozen (1967) in having a team as a central visual. The new trailer accentuated action, and was considered an improvement over the first trailer, which had been described as "dour and ... like it was selling a talky stage play with a cast of old British actors". An internal MGM memo reported the reception of the trailer by online communities to be "significantly favorable" compared to the previous trailer.^[63] Since United Artists reported that the film cost $75 million to make and that $60 million would be spent on marketing, the studio faces high financial stakes. The film also tests the determination of its distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the mettle of Cruise as a superstar.^[41]