Cruise in an Eye Patch May Prove Hard Sell in Valkyrie

A fear that audiences won't take to Tom Cruise in an eye-patch has kept Valkyrie, about a failed plot by German officers to assassinate Hitler, in United Artists' vaults. Advertising Age reports that studio execs postponed the film’s release multiple times over worries it wouldn’t stand up in this year’s Oscar competition.

The film is now set to be released Dec. 26, with an expected $60 million marketing push behind it. Although Cruise, as UA co-owner, is their boss, marketing execs have to overcome mixed press generated by his Scientology ties and Oprah sofa antics. They’re trying a strategy that de-emphasizes his star power and plays up the film’s thrills over its World War II backdrop. (More Valkyrie stories.)