Cruise Film Sparks Political Furor in Germany

In a decision that defies all comprehension, Tom Cruise has been cast as Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg-the leader of the Generals' Plot to assassinate Hitler at the end of World War II, and a national hero-in the upcoming Byran Singer film Valkyrie. (The film was named for the code name used by the plotters). The decision has caused a political furor in Germany, and for the wrong reason: Cruise is a Scientologist. The German military has barred the film's producers from using German military bases as locations, and Social Democratic lawmaker Klaus Uwe Benneter said the casting represents "a slap in the face to all upstanding democrats, all resistance fighters during the Third Reich, and all victims of the Scientology sect". Scientologists have called the response a call to religious discrimination, and Carl Woebcken, head of Babelsberg studio, which is co-producing the film with United Artists, said, "This is not a Scientology film, it is a Bryan Singer film, and Bryan Singer is Jewish...and they want to make this film to show that during the Nazi regime there was heroic resistance. [Tom Cruise] is one of the best, if not the best, actors in the world for heroic roles and that is why Bryan Singer approached him.