Cruise film aims to open 8/8/08

Tom Cruise’s new film “Valkyrie,” the MGM/United Artists historical thriller that kicked up dust last month in Germany, now has a tentative release date: Aug. 8, 2008.

Cruise, who is also one of the film’s producers, stars as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of a July 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a briefcase bomb. Valkyrie was the code name for Stauffenberg’s plot.

The film will have plenty of competition if that Friday date holds. Universal’s “Hellboy 2” and Buena Vista’s animated feature “South of the Border” are due out on Aug. 1. New Line’s Brendan Fraser adventure “Journey 3-D,” Warner Bros.’ “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” and Sony’s Seth Rogen comedy “The Pineapple Express” are all slated for release on Aug. 8.

Last month, Germany barred “Valkyrie” filmmakers from shooting at the “Bendlerblock” memorial in the Defense Ministry complex in Berlin because Cruise is a Scientologist. The government considers Scientology a cult.