VALKYRIE:
At the hight of WW2, a group of high ranking German officers hatch out a plot to assasinate Adolph Hitler, and sieze power of the military in order to end the war. The operation was codenamed "Valkyrie"

NEWS:

Valkyrie Cast-and-Crew Press Conference

FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Eddie excerpts:

Eddie Izzard: I'm somewhat encyclopedic on the second world war - I don't think there's anything me and Chris McQuarrie don't know together - so I knew about this story. To know that German people stood up, in a very difficult situation, risked their lives, and lost their lives. They are genuine heroes. To go in and do this story honour and try and get it as accurate as possible is great. For 12 years, a criminal, Hitler, came and kidnapped the country and, hopefully, we show here what ordinary decent citizens of that country were trying to do.

Izzard: I think Hugh Jackman is the only one allowed to go home in his uniform. We couldn't because you're not allowed to wear swastikas around Germany. You can do a film in them but you're not allowed to wander around wearing swastikas. The interesting thing is the original uniforms were designed by Hugo Boss. Back in those days most democratic armies had uniforms made together with whatever they had left over, and the Nazis had these uniforms which were designed by Hugo Boss. It was the father and the son, and they were obviously very frowned upon after the war and sold the title, which has nothing to do with the label now.

Eddie Talks Valkyrie

Eddie Izzard suits up for Valkyrie
By Ian Caddell

NEW YORK CITY—There doesn't seem to be much that Eddie Izzard can't do. He is a standup comic who has starred in more than a half-dozen videos and played clubs and arenas in several countries. He is the star of an award-winning TV drama called The Riches that sees him heading up a family of con men that takes over the identity of an upper-middle-class family. And, as of Christmas Day, he will be on screens playing a respected German general who is unsure of whether or not to join a plot to kill Hitler.

Izzard says his role in that film, Valkyrie, which stars Tom Cruise as the leader of a group that plans the assassination but needs Izzard's general to make it work, was a project that he decided to seek. Surprisingly, the U.K.–raised Izzard says he could relate to his character.

“I have studied World War II, and when I was a kid, I wanted to be in the British army,” he says in a New York City hotel room. “There were a lot of things about my youth that would have slotted into his life. If I had been a German person going into the Second World War, I would have gone into the army. I can see that happening. So I felt comfortable from the beginning with him. There was never going to be a problem with becoming the character. You just have to go into it and grab it. Some of it you are pulling from yourself and the other things you find.”

Izzard says he is a big believer in taking pieces from your past in order to create characters. And he feels that it is that approach that has allowed him to move easily between standup, his dramatic TV series, and movies like Valkyrie, something he says audiences aren't always ready for. He says that standup comics have a particularly tough time doing drama because the audience has been conditioned to laugh with them.

“The buttons you are pushing in a dramatic role are different from comedy and it is tricky to land both well because comedy tends to get into people's brains. If you are a comic, you can do what you think is the best dramatic performance in the world but someone will say, ‘I was waiting for you to say this.' When I am doing drama, there is a distinct part of me that I pull from. It can be some fight I had in my life, or the hell I went through when my mom died that has created an anger inside me. I feel as though I am getting better at bringing those things out in roles. My standup routine is different. When I get into that, I am a relentless bastard. Hopefully, I get better and better at all these things. I know you are always going to make a misstep if you have that ambition, but hopefully each will inform the other in some shape or form.”

Eddie Izzard's movie doubts

Eddie Izzard still hasn't seen his new movie 'Valkyrie', despite shooting it 18 months ago.

The British actor appears in the much delayed film alongside Tom Cruise, but despite it being released this month, he hasn't watched a final cut yet.

Eddie, 46, said: "I haven't seen 'Valkyrie' yet. I did that a year and a half ago. I have no idea what I did. It's so odd, for a year and a half you're waiting to see - all the preparation you put into it - whether it came off or whether it didn't. In stand up you get it a split second after you say it."

Eddie has recently returned to stand up comedy - receiving a hugely positive reaction in the UK where he sold out his first run of shows in London's West End for 12 years in 48 hours - but insists he is still pursuing his dramatic acting career.

He added: "I've slightly downplayed the stand-up over the past 15 years and kept pushing on the drama. But I'm still playing catch up."

Eddie has also appeared in films including 'Ocean's Thirteen' and TV series 'The Riches', as well as lending his voice to characters in animated film 'Igor' and UK film 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Price Caspian'.

Izzard confident of 'Valkyrie' success
Tuesday, September 9 2008, 20:26 BST
By Simon Reynolds, Entertainment Reporter

Historical Background of the Players
" Eddie Izzard, the famed English comedian, plays Gen. Erich Fellgiebel. Hitler never trusted Fellgiebel, a brilliant Prussian military officer, due to his independence of mind but nonetheless relied on his intelligence and made him head of the Signal Service."

But the best part was this "Needless to say, there has been much anticipation over this film, especially since the lead role went to Tom Cruise, who has never quite got the knack of acting. Like Jeremy Irons, he seems to believe that completely different characters require little or no change in performance, but is mysteriously still making films nonetheless. (Cruise at least has the excuse of being a Scientologist to explain his success… what’s Jeremy Irons’s?)." ha. READ FULL ARTICLE

'Valkyrie' pushed back to 2009
'Valkyrie' pushed back to 2009 Rex Features The United Artists and MGM World War II thriller Valkyrie has been pushed back from an October 3 release to February 13 next year. The film was originally due to bow this summer but was pushed back to allow director Bryan Singer to complete shooting. The latest release change shifts Valkyrie away from Hollywood's awards season and into a date that will see it face competition from Confessions of a Shopaholic and the Friday the 13th remake. "MGM is proud and excited to be presenting Valkyrie, and because of that we want to give it the best launch possible," said Clark Woods, President of Domestic Distribution at MGM. "When an opening became available for President's Day Weekend, we seized the opportunity. Having seen a lot of the film and how great it is going to play once it's finished, moving into a big holiday weekend is the right move." Both the Pink Panther sequel and Wolfman recently vacated the February 13 weekend. Valkyrie revolves around a plot by German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Carice Van Houten star in the film.

First Look of Eddie as Erich Fellgiebel

The Good German
"..The cast list reads like a roll-call of veterans of stage, television and film: as well as Branagh, it features Bill Nighy, David Schofield, Tom Wilkinson, David Bamber, Kenneth Cranham, Kevin McNally, Ian McNeice, Tom Hollander, Jamie Parker and Terence Stamp. The only possible outsider in the group is self-described "action transvestite'' Eddie Izzard, who says of his path to acting via street performing and stand-up: "I took a slightly different, circuitous route to the rest of them.''

However, Izzard, who portrays General Erich Fellgiebel, is a keen student of the Second World War, and probably knew more about Operation Valkyrie than any of the others before the script arrived..."   READ FULL ARTICLE

First Photos
On the left is the actual Claus von Stauffenberg, and on the right is Tom Cruise.

'Valkyrie' Begins Principal Photography in Berlin

LOS ANGELES, July 18 /CNW/ -- United Artists Entertainment LLC announced the start of principal photography today in Berlin on the international production of "Valkyrie," a suspense thriller based on the true story of the daring German officers' plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944.

Superstar Tom Cruise heads an international cast as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the aristocratic German officer who led the heroic attempt to bring down the Nazi regime and end the war by planting a bomb in Hitler's bunker. Also starring are Kenneth Branagh ("Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"), Bill Nighy ("Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"), Tom Wilkinson ("In the Bedroom"), Carice van Houten ("Black Book"), Eddie Izzard ("Ocean's Thirteen"), Christian Berkel ("Black Book"), Thomas Kretschmann ("King Kong"), and Terrence Stamp ("Billy Budd," "Superman," "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace"). The film is being produced by Singer, McQuarrie, and Gilbert Adler ("Superman Returns," "Constantine"), with Chris Lee ("Superman Returns") executive producing. Joining Singer behind the camera is a talented production team that includes director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel ("Superman Returns," "X2"), costume designer Joanna Johnston ("Munich," "War of the Worlds"), and editor John Ottman (" Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," "Superman Returns").

The "July 20 Plot" on Hitler's life is one of the most heroic but least known episodes of World War Two. Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan that will allow a shadow government to replace Hitler's once he is dead. But fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from one of many in the plot to a double-edged central role. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of his nation's government ... He must kill Hitler himself.

"'Valkyrie' tells a story that is not only exciting but also important," said Singer. "It's something that Chris McQuarrie and I have wanted to do for some time. I can't imagine shooting it anywhere else but on location in Germany, and I'm thrilled that we were able to get Tom Cruise to play Col. Stauffenberg."

"'Valkyrie' is a gripping thriller that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats -- and also go a long way towards reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military there was real resistance to the Nazi regime," said United Artists Chief Executive Officer Paula Wagner. "As soon as we read the screenplay, we knew this was a movie we had to make."

"Valkyrie" is the second production to be green-lit by United Artists since the fabled Hollywood studio was revived last November under the leadership of Cruise and Wagner, who co-own the studio. It is a co-production of United Artists and Studio Babelsberg AG, the venerable German film studio whose stages have hosted productions ranging from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" to Paul Greengrass's "The Bourne Ultimatum."

The film will be shot on location in Germany and elsewhere. It is scheduled to be ready for release by MGM in the summer of 2008.

Name Change
IMDb has listed the actual title of the movie as Rubicon instead of Valkyrie, stating that Valkyrie was just a working title (used for filming and initial naming) and that I guess Rubicon might be the official release title we'll see next August. (thanks Gia)

Bryan Singer
Before embarking on the Superman sequel, Singer openly discussed helming a smaller project going back to the days of thrillers The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. In late 2006, screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie presented to Singer a story that took place in World War II. In the following months, the two collaborated on the project, an original thriller that would be a multi-character ensemble piece. In March 2007, the duo brought the project directly to United Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to finance the film. 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. Filming will begin on July 19 in Berlin.

Cruise film banned from memorial
Actor Tom Cruise and the makers of his new movie have been banned from filming at the location in Berlin where an army colonel was executed in World War II.
Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who was executed after plotting to assassinate Hitler in 1944.
Germany's finance ministry said the ban on Valkyrie's makers had nothing to do with the actor being a Scientologist.
Producers have already been barred from military sites because Germany believes Scientology is a money-making cult.
Scientology leaders strongly reject that view, while Cruise's co-producer has said his personal beliefs were not relevant to the film's subject matter.
A German government spokesman said the cast and crew had been refused permission to film on the so-called Bendlerblock site, which is part of the defence ministry, because it was a memorial site. Meanwhile director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - who won this year's best foreign language film Oscar for The Lives of Others - has defended Cruise, telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that having him play Stauffenberg "would promote Germany's image more than 10 football World Cups".
Valkyrie - named after Operation Valkyrie, the plot's codename - is directed by Bryan Singer and also stars Kenneth Branagh. It is due for release next year. 

CRUISING ALONG?
Sounds like Tom Cruise and his producers have finalized enough location permits to get their "Valkyrie" film shot in Germany, even if the country's Defense Ministry has denied them access to the "Bendlerblock." That site, now considered a national military memorial, was where Col. Claus von Stauffenberg and his accomplices were executed after their failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944. "Valkyrie" traces the plot that could have shortened World War II and altered the course of history. Previously, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung had said the filmmakers could not shoot at any German military sites as long as Cruise was involved due to his ties to Scientology, which the German government has long attacked as a cult. Now, the Germans claim the permit denials had nothing to do with Scientology, merely respect for the sanctity of these military sites. An insider, working on the film, says that is not true, but confirms that the "Valkyrie" project has lined up all the needed filming sites required.