Valkyrie key scene will have to be re-shot
Story by Jack Foley
A KEY scene from Tom Cruise’s World War II thriller Valkyrie needs to be re-shot after footage suffered damage at a film processing plant in Germany.
Ironically, the footage includes scenes shot at a memorial in Berlin that the filmmakers had initially been prevented from using by German authorities.
But production company United Artists (UA) has been given permission to return and recapture the footage without any further objection.
The site in question is named the Bendler-Block and is where would-be Hitler assassin Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg – the character played by Cruise – and his co-conspirators plotted to kill Hitler and where they were eventually executed.
A UA spokesman revealed that the damage to the film was not extensive and would not have any effect on its schedule or budget.
But it’s the latest mishap to befall the film, which chronicles the 1944 plot by to assassinate the Fuhrer.
Valkyrie first attracted controversy when it was initially prevented from filming at the Bendler Block, which is now a memorial for Third Reich resistance fighters, and then 11 extras were injured after falling off a truck.
But the film, directed by Bryan Singer, is still due to be released next summer and will co-star British actors Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh and Tom Wilkinson.