Ethan Hunt(Tom Cruise) in Mission Impossible III.(2006)
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VALKYRIE Filming Barred in Germany

Bryan Singer's latest production, VALKYRIE, just hit a small snag for reasons outside of his control. The film is based on true events in regards to German generals hatching a plan on taking out the Nazi dictator Hitler at the height of the WWII. Singer and producer McQuarrie brought the story over to United Artist last year and selected Cruise to star in the film. For the past few months, Singer and United Artist have planned to film a large portion of the war based thriller on German military sites.

According to Comingsoon, Germany has barred it from being filmed for one reason. The don't recognize Tom Cruise's religious affiliations, the Church of Scientology. They won't allow an actor like Tom Cruise to portray Count Stauffenberg on their soil.

"[Filmmakers] will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult," the German Defense Minister Kammerbauer said. "In general, the Bundeswehr (German military) has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg's person."

Cruise's friend and longtime co-producer Paula Wagner (she also heads up United Artist with Cruise) had this to say about the film being barred from the country:

"To set the record straight, 'Valkyrie' is a historically accurate thriller that presents the World War Two resistance hero Col. Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg as the heroic and principled figure he was, and we believe it will 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. 'Valkyrie' was originated and brought to United Artists by Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie. Based on the fantastic screenplay written by Mr. McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, we gave it the green light. Mr. Singer, the director, then offered the role of Col. Stauffenberg to Tom Cruise because he thought he was perfect for the part. Aside from his obvious admiration of the man he is portraying, Mr. Cruise's personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot, themes, or content. And even though we could shoot the movie anywhere in the world, we believe Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice."