Tom
Cruise's
latest
movie
has
received
a
much-needed
boost
from
Germany--the
country's
film
board
will
grant
subsidies
worth
$6.5
million
to
the
project.
Cruise
is
playing
World
War
II
hero
Colonel
Claus
von
Stauffenberg--who
led
an
unsuccessful
plot
to
assassinate
Nazi
dictator
Adolf
Hitler--in
new
film
Valkyrie.
However,
efforts
to
shoot
the
movie
on
military
sites
have
been
thwarted
by
Germany's
Defense
Ministry,
allegedly
because
Cruise's
Scientology
beliefs
are
viewed
as
a
"moneymaking
cult" instead
of
a
legitimate
church
by
the
German
government.
But
the
government-backed
Federal
Film
Board
(FFA)
reportedly
endorsed
funding
for
the
movie
on
Wednesday,
which
has
allayed
fears
the
country
is
fundamentally
opposed
to
the
project.
A
Berlin
official
says,
"The
Cruise
film
will
get
4.8
million
euros."
A
spokeswoman
for
the
FFA
declined
to
confirm
the
subsidies,
but
said
the
board
had
agreed
some
grants
on
Wednesday.
Subsidies
are
available
to
any
film
as
long
as
a
German-based
producer
is
involved
and
certain
percentages
of
the
costs
fall
in
Germany.