Tom Cruise touches down in Rio

Tom Cruise has hit the red carpet in Rio de Janeiro for the Brazilian premiere of his film Valkyrie. Cruise, who is making the promotional tour with his wife Katy Holmes and daughter Suri, said he had been looking forward to coming to Rio for a long time and would love to make a film in the country. Fans showed up early for the chance to get a photo or autograph from Cruise and his wife. Valkyrie is based on a true story about an unsuccessful attempt by German soldiers to kill Adolf Hitler. In the film Cruise plays Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg who plants a briefcase bomb under a table at Hitler's military headquarters. A heavy wooden table saves Hitler and Stauffenberg is executed with his co-conspirators. Stauffenberg's legacy helped ease the burden of guilt about World War II and the Holocaust Germans still endure. But Germans had balked at the prospect of Cruise playing Stauffenberg as they objected to the actor's ties to Scientology, the movement founded in the 1950s by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard. Germany, which does not recognize Scientology as a religion and regards it as a cult, made it difficult for the crew to film in the Bendlerblock building and courtyard where Stauffenberg was shot dead. Valkyrie also stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard.

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ITN | February 4, 2009

Tags:. .stauffenberg. .branagh. .suri. .briefcase. .valkyrie