Valkyrie (movie)

Oops, I accidently quoted wrong post-mods-puhleeze delete--Danke.

 

FOr Skipper, I wanted to go see it when I was in Austin on Fri-Sat-but had no way to get to any theater. Will try here in H-town in a day or two.

 

I meant to originally quote Ikes post but accidently quoted a controversial one-now deleted. Anyhooyou make great points in here and fully agree w/ ya. Also, I heard Cruise was getting 20 million plus a chunk of any profits made.

 

The percentage is typical of his contracts of late but 20 mil........nah. He's not worth it.

 

I agree that Tom Cruise is a casting error, the perfect actor for that would have been Rutger Hauer. Much more Aryian looking!

 

Two more reviews

Tom Cruise Fails to Convince in Sluggish 'Valkyrie'


Cruise's 'Valkyrie' Low on Thrills


By CLAUDIA PUIG, USA TODAY
Dec. 27, 2008

"Valkyrie" is a World War II thriller without enough thrills


The story, based on a real-life attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, starts slowly and then takes off about halfway in. But even during scenes of intense action, the visually slick production is only minimally engrossing.
One of the most misguided aspects is casting Tom Cruise in the lead role. While the supporting cast includes some of the best European — mainly British — actors in strong performances, Cruise is unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. With his modern Yank-speak, Cruise sounds disturbingly American, detracting substantially from a believable portrayal of a German officer

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/story?id=6527990&page=1

and,

Valkyrie' non-flop augurs well for Cruise, UA

• By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle, Ap Entertainment Writer – 2 hrs 52 mins ago
  

Reuters – An undated handout photo shows U.S. actor Tom Cruise dressed in his role as Nazi German Colonel Claus …

• NEW YORK – After the reasonably strong box office performance of "Valkyrie" over the weekend, skeptics were robbed of the chance to declare "Flop!"

The Tom Cruise WWII thriller earned $21.5 million over the weekend, with a four-day haul of $30 million since it opened on Christmas Day.
That was a solid and better than expected box-office draw for "Valkyrie," which cost a reported $90 million to produce (director Bryan Singer has pegged it at closer to $75 million) and perhaps more than half that to market it.
"This totally robs the nay-sayers of their ability to deem it a flop, because it's not," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It does show the renewed star power of Tom Cruise."
Dergarabedian credited Cruise's comic (and Golden Globe nominated) performance in the summer's "Tropic Thunder" in helping audiences again embrace the actor.
He also noted that a film about Nazis wouldn't have earned nearly as much without Cruise's star power and a savvy marketing campaign. That campaign — which positioned "Valkyrie" as a historical thriller and led to an audience that MGM said skewed 55 percent male — helped turn back earlier bad publicity.
When photos were first released showing Cruise as would-be Adolf Hitler assassin Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the pictures of the actor in a German WWII uniform and eye patch were widely mocked online. A brief disagreement with the German Defense Ministry due to Cruise's Scientology beliefs also didn't help.
And United Artists, a division of MGM, repeatedly shifted the release date before settling on a Christmas Day release but without an Oscar campaign. For his part, Cruise, who co-owns UA, kept his sense of humor about it.
"Go kill Hitler on Christmas!" joked Cruise in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
But the move paid off partially because of high across-the-board returns on the holiday.
According to Sunday estimates, "Marley & Me" debuted at No. 1 with $37 million in weekend ticket sales and a total of $51.7 million since opening Christmas Day. The four-day take of Adam Sandler's "Bedtime Stories" totaled $38.6 million and "Benjamin Button" grossed $39 in the same period.
The stakes may have been highest, though, for "Valkyrie." It was only the second film released by UA since it was reformed by Cruise and producer Paula Wagner. Last year's "Lions for Lambs," in which Cruise starred with Meryl Streep, earned just $15 million.
Cruise and Wagner (who has since left her chief executive post at UA) initially planned to release four films a year, so there is all the more pressure on "Valkyrie" — UA's one 2008 film — to perform well.
Dergarabedian believes "Valkyrie" stands a good chance of becoming profitable in the end, partially because Cruise is still a big draw internationally. Even "Lions for Lambs" managed nearly $50 million at the foreign box office.

`Valkyrie' non-flop augurs well for Cruise, UA - Yahoo! News

 

Two more reviews

Tom Cruise Fails to Convince in Sluggish 'Valkyrie'


Cruise's 'Valkyrie' Low on Thrills


By CLAUDIA PUIG, USA TODAY
Dec. 27, 2008

"Valkyrie" is a World War II thriller without enough thrills


The story, based on a real-life attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, starts slowly and then takes off about halfway in. But even during scenes of intense action, the visually slick production is only minimally engrossing.
One of the most misguided aspects is casting Tom Cruise in the lead role. While the supporting cast includes some of the best European — mainly British — actors in strong performances, Cruise is unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. With his modern Yank-speak, Cruise sounds disturbingly American, detracting substantially from a believable portrayal of a German officer

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/story?id=6527990&page=1

and,

Valkyrie' non-flop augurs well for Cruise, UA

• By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle, Ap Entertainment Writer – 2 hrs 52 mins ago
  

Reuters – An undated handout photo shows U.S. actor Tom Cruise dressed in his role as Nazi German Colonel Claus …

• NEW YORK – After the reasonably strong box office performance of "Valkyrie" over the weekend, skeptics were robbed of the chance to declare "Flop!"

The Tom Cruise WWII thriller earned $21.5 million over the weekend, with a four-day haul of $30 million since it opened on Christmas Day.
That was a solid and better than expected box-office draw for "Valkyrie," which cost a reported $90 million to produce (director Bryan Singer has pegged it at closer to $75 million) and perhaps more than half that to market it.
"This totally robs the nay-sayers of their ability to deem it a flop, because it's not," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It does show the renewed star power of Tom Cruise."
Dergarabedian credited Cruise's comic (and Golden Globe nominated) performance in the summer's "Tropic Thunder" in helping audiences again embrace the actor.
He also noted that a film about Nazis wouldn't have earned nearly as much without Cruise's star power and a savvy marketing campaign. That campaign — which positioned "Valkyrie" as a historical thriller and led to an audience that MGM said skewed 55 percent male — helped turn back earlier bad publicity.
When photos were first released showing Cruise as would-be Adolf Hitler assassin Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the pictures of the actor in a German WWII uniform and eye patch were widely mocked online. A brief disagreement with the German Defense Ministry due to Cruise's Scientology beliefs also didn't help.
And United Artists, a division of MGM, repeatedly shifted the release date before settling on a Christmas Day release but without an Oscar campaign. For his part, Cruise, who co-owns UA, kept his sense of humor about it.
"Go kill Hitler on Christmas!" joked Cruise in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
But the move paid off partially because of high across-the-board returns on the holiday.
According to Sunday estimates, "Marley & Me" debuted at No. 1 with $37 million in weekend ticket sales and a total of $51.7 million since opening Christmas Day. The four-day take of Adam Sandler's "Bedtime Stories" totaled $38.6 million and "Benjamin Button" grossed $39 in the same period.
The stakes may have been highest, though, for "Valkyrie." It was only the second film released by UA since it was reformed by Cruise and producer Paula Wagner. Last year's "Lions for Lambs," in which Cruise starred with Meryl Streep, earned just $15 million.
Cruise and Wagner (who has since left her chief executive post at UA) initially planned to release four films a year, so there is all the more pressure on "Valkyrie" — UA's one 2008 film — to perform well.
Dergarabedian believes "Valkyrie" stands a good chance of becoming profitable in the end, partially because Cruise is still a big draw internationally. Even "Lions for Lambs" managed nearly $50 million at the foreign box office.

`Valkyrie' non-flop augurs well for Cruise, UA - Yahoo! News

 

And yet a movie about a dog does better at the box office .

'Marley & Me' earns $50.7M box office biscuit

LOS ANGELES – "Marley & Me" was the gift that kept on taking: The romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson followed up its record $14.75 million Christmas Day opening with another $50.7 million at the weekend box office.
Meanwhile, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" gave up its No. 2 Christmas Day slot to "Bedtime Stories" in the Friday-to-Sunday haul.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC:
1. "Marley & Me," Fox, $50,748,566, 3,480 locations, $10,450 average, $18,262,471, one week.
2. "Bedtime Stories," Disney, $38,029,113, 3,681 locations, $7,457 average, $38,029,113, one week.
3. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Paramount, $38,725,647, 2,988 locations, $8,987 average, $38,725,647, one week.
4. "Valkyrie," MGM, $29,520,979, 2,711 locations, $7,756 average, one weeks.
5. "Yes Man," Warner Bros., $22,587,046, 3,434 locations, $4,851 average, two weeks.
6. "Seven Pounds," Sony, $17,950,683, 2,758 locations, $4,787 average, two weeks.
7. "The Tale of Despereaux," Universal, $10,903,665, 3,107 locations, $2,875 average, two weeks.
8. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Fox, $10,466,553, 2,402 locations, $3,205 average, three weeks.
9. "The Spirit," Lionsgate, $10,305,501, 2,509 locations, $2,576 average, 1 week.
10. "Doubt," Miramax, $6,760,322, 1,267 locations, $4,214 average, 3 weeks.
11. "Four Christmases," Warner Bros., $7,076,330, 2,510 locations, $1,928 average, 5 weeks.
12. "Twilight," Summit Entertainment, $5,733,918, 1,849 locations, $2,565 average, $2,991, six weeks.
13. "Slumdog Millionaire," Fox Searchlight, $5,647,007, 614 locations, $7,006 average, seven weeks.
14. "Bolt," Disney, $4,054,370, 1,923 locations, $1,757 average, six weeks.

15. "Gran Torino," Warner Bros., $3,086,339, 84 locations, $27,652 average, three weeks.
16. "Milk," Focus, $2,262,638, 311 locations, $5,668 average, five weeks.
17. "Quantum of Solace," Sony, $1,763,632, 891 locations, $1,572 average, seven weeks.
18. "Frost/Nixon," Universal, $1,826,281, 205 locations, $6,611 average, four weeks.
19. "Australia," Fox, $1,304,879, 711 locations, $1,518 average, $2,212, five weeks. 20. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," Paramount, $1,073,936, 808 locations, $1,142 average, eight weeks.


'Marley & Me' earns $50.7M box office biscuit - Yahoo! News

 

Now thats using the old noodle.

Hollywood could learn a lot from you Za.

 

Thinking again, why not Mel Gibson?

 

Yet Cruise looks quite like the real Stauffenberg and Hauer is 64 years old by now and never looked like Stauffenberg.

 

Yet looking similar to von Stauffenberg didn't help his acting it looks like . Sorry. He could be von Stauffenberg's identical twin and he still couldn't act the part.

"Cruise is unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. With his modern Yank-speak, Cruise sounds disturbingly American, detracting substantially from a believable portrayal of a German officer"

 

Very well, but casting Hauer because he's "much more Aryan looking" won't help much for that matter.

 

Ok, I give up on Hauer.

Maximilian Schell, perhaps?



Hmmm, he's 78 by now...

 

I fully agree with you there as well-he aint worth it-neither are any of the other big-wigs attempting to act these days with the exception of a few like Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks.

 

Too bad Montgomery Clift isn't still around-and looking also like he did when he was in From Here To Eternity-he'd been better than Tommy boy. Also, for that matter, so would Derick Jacoby :lol: :lol:

Got another for you to ponder in that role--heh heh Dean Martin-back as he looked in the late 1940's. ;-)) :lol:

 

You got this one for sure Miguel. Maximilian Schell would have been an excellent choice-providing he still looked as he did when he was in "Judgement At Nuremburg". And for that matter-Peter Duryea would also have been a nice choice-had he still looked as he did back in the 1960's and had he also not quit the acting business that his Papa had been in for about 30 years and also being killed off in 90% of the movies he ever made.

 

Cross of Iron - "How do I reload?"

 

On a lighter note.....



Phone call.....

I'm sorry to tell my general the Allies blew up your truck of luxury toilet paper..... but on the up side your porto-loo is intact.

 

Yeah too bad they couldn't find a suitable German actor or one that could in anyway concievable portray a German. Hell a German accent would have helped Cruise. At least the other actors like some have said didn't sound like a "Yank".