Based on a stunning true story, Tom Cruise stars as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg in the suspense film Valkyrie, a chronicle of the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known. A proud military man, Colonel Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who loves his country but has been forced to watch with horror as the rise of Hitler has led to the events of World War II. He has continued his military service, all the while hoping someone will find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing time is running out, Stauffenberg decides he must take action himself, and in 1942, on his own initiative, attempts to persuade senior commanders in the East to confront and overthrow Hitler. Then in 1943, while recovering from injuries suffered in combat, Stauffenberg joins forces with the German Resistance, a long-existing civilian anti-Hitler conspiracy comprised of men hidden inside the highest reaches of power. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler's own emergency plan to stabilize the government in the event of his demise – Operation Valkyrie – and turn that plan on its head to remove those in power and cripple Hitler's regime, these men plot to assassinate the dictator and overthrow his Nazi government. With everything in place, and with the future of the world, the fate of millions, and the lives of his wife and children hanging in the balance, Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose Hitler to being the one who must kill Hitler himself. Director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns) re-teams with Academy Award®-winning The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie to bring to life the story of the men who led the operation to assassinate Hiltler. In addition to Cruise, the film's acclaimed cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard, Christian Berkel and Terence Stamp. Valkyrie is produced by Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie and Gilbert Adler. McQuarrie co-wrote the original screenplay with Nathan Alexander, who also serves as co-producer. The executive producers are Chris Lee, Ken Kamins, Daniel M. Snyder, Dwight C. Schar, and Mark Shapiro. The film was shot in Germany at various locations where many of the actual events occurred, including the historic Bendlerblock. Recreating the atmosphere of urgency and paranoia inside the German Resistance is a team that includes Singer's frequent collaborators Newton Thomas Sigel (Superman Returns, X2, X-Men) as director of photography and editor/composer John Ottman (Superman Returns, X2) as well as production designers Lilly Kilvert (two-time Oscar-nominee for The Last Samurai and Legends of the Fall) and Patrick Lumb (The Omen, Flight of the Phoenix) and costume designer Joanna Johnston (Munich, Saving Private Ryan).
