{nl}Tom Cruise and United Artists said Monday that they will wait until 2009 to unspool the Cruise-toplined World War II thriller. Studio executives said the change was prompted by the recent exit of two rival films from the lucrative Presidents Day weekend.Cruise and longtime producing partner Paula Wagner were given the reins of UA in November 2006 with plans to release four films a year boasting budgets upward of $40 million. Their first release was “Lambs,” the Robert Redford-directed drama about the war in Afghanistan.{nl}The Bryan Singer-helmed “Valkyrie,” in which Cruise plays an eyepatch-wearing Nazi officer, is now set to debut in wide release on Feb. 13. It had been set for Oct. 3.{nl} {nl}The two films moved from the holiday frame were Sony’s comedy sequel “The Pink Panther 2,” which moved up one week to Feb. 6, and Universal’s horror thriller “The Wolfman,” which shifted from Feb. 13 to April 3.”When an opening became available for Presidents Day weekend, we seized the opportunity,” MGM distribution president Clark Woods said. “Having seen a lot of the film and how great it is going to play once it’s finished, moving into a big holiday weekend is the right move.”UA marketing president Dennis Rice said UA execs are “delighted that MGM has agreed to hold the release until the very strong holiday weekend.”"Valkyrie” previously was moved from June to October to allow more time for additional footage to be shot. A big North Africa battle scene is scheduled to be lensed in May.In the meantime, there’s talk that the shift from fall to next winter gets UA’s all-important “Valkyrie” out of the home stretch of the presidential election, a period when prospective moviegoers might be difficult to pry away from television newscasts.”Valkyrie” is based on a true story involving a plot to assassinate Hitler. The cast also includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson.

Take that, Sumner Redstone.{nl}At an industry screening Tuesday night of the forthcoming comedy “Tropic Thunder” from Paramount Pictures and its unit DreamWorks, Tom Cruise brought down the house with his surprise portrayal of a bald, hairy-chested, foulmouthed, dirty-dancing movie mogul of the kind who is only too happy to throw an actor to the wolves when his popularity cools.{nl}The several hundred Hollywood agents, managers, publicists and reporters at the screening on the Paramount lot here couldn’t have missed the joke. In August 2006 Mr. Cruise

CS: What can you tell me about “Tropic Thunder?”Hader:I think people are going to be really amazed with Tom Cruise in this movie. I have a lot of scenes with Tom Cruise where he’s head of a studio and he’s really, really funny in this movie. He and Robert Downey Jr. are great. Everybody in this movie is hilarious. It’s an insane movie.CS: Who do you play?Hader: I play a guy who is the executive in charge of the movie “Tropic Thunder,” the movie within the movie. I’m kind of a sniveling bastard. I’m Tom Cruise’s character’s one-hand man in the movie.{nl}CS: What was it like working with him?Hader:He’s the nicest guy ever. He’s just hilarious in the movie{nl}Source: Coming Soon Net

It’s been days since we last saw Tom & Kate out and about. Well,that was changed yesterday as the couple went to have dinner at Cut’s Restaurant. Here are some pics:{nl}Leaving Cut’s Restaurant – March 29th 2008{nl}

In the close-knit world of Hollywood, doing business with your enemies is inevitable. But an unlikely union was on display Thursday when Tom Cruise dined at a Beverly Hills hot spot with the person who toppled him from his A-list pedestal, Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone. Mr. Redstone severed Mr. Cruise’s long-running partnership with Viacom’s Paramount Pictures in 2006, blasting the actor’s sometimes odd public behavior for undermining the studio’s movies such as “Mission: Impossible III.” Paramount had been home to the star’s production company for 14 years, and before that made some of Mr. Cruise’s biggest hits, including “Top Gun.” Messrs. Redstone and Cruise have barely exchanged a word since then. At a lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a venue chosen by Mr. Cruise, Mr. Redstone said they “agreed the past is the past and we would put it behind us and renew our relationship.” A spokesman for Mr. Cruise declined to comment. Mr. Redstone declined to elaborate on whether they discussed business. However, Mr. Cruise is widely thought to want to renew the “Mission: Impossible” series of movies, which Paramount has the rights to. Mr. Redstone says Mr. Cruise “was happy I agreed to have lunch with him” and brought out pictures of his wife and daughter. Mr. Cruise thanked Mr. Redstone for a note he sent wishing him luck on his new venture just over a year ago, the Viacom chairman said. They agreed to get together for dinner at a later date, Mr. Redstone said. After leaving Paramount, Mr. Cruise settled at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., where he and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, were given a mandate to resurrect the United Artists label. Paramount owns the rights to several top movies in which Mr. Cruise starred, and is already planning to make a sequel to one of them, “War of the Worlds,” directed by Steven Spielberg. Mr. Spielberg himself could be in the situation of seeking to maintain relations with Paramount even if he leaves the studio, as many expect him to. After selling his DreamWorks label to Paramount, Mr. Spielberg and other senior executives have been agitating to leave after a series of internal spats over their status and roles within the Viacom empire. Paramount co-owns the rights to some of Mr. Spielberg’s best-known movies, including the “Indiana Jones” series. {nl}Source:  Wall Street Journal{nl} {nl}

Director Bryan Singer is discussing Valkyrie in this month’s Empire Magazine.{nl}Singer has revealed he “doesn’t know what the problem was” regarding the German government’s criticism towards his film Valkyrie and its star Tom Cruise. {nl}The World War II drama centres on an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler led by Claus von Stauffenberg (played in the film by Cruise). Valkyrie ran into several stumbling blocks when it started filming last year in Germany. {nl}Singer said: “I don’t know how much of what was reported was actually true. “It was reported that their initial reluctance was something to do with Scientology, but I don’t even know to this day if that’s really what the problem was.” {nl}The film was also met with resistance by some of Stauffenberg’s relatives, with son Berthold quoted as saying: “He [Cruise] should keep his hands off my father.” Singer admitted to being disappointed with the comments but said his film received backing from other Stauffenberg family members. “In reality, we spent a lot of time with the family. There’s members of the family in the movie, and we spent intimate time with close members of the family who were there and who had perspective. So, you know, some are supportive and some aren’t.” Valkyrie is scheduled for release on October 3.{nl} 

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and daughter Suri, standing up and singing along at the House of Blues’ Gospel Brunch in West Hollywood. There to celebrate Easter with Cruise’s sister and mother, the family wore all cream and shared a long, communal table in front of the stage. An onlooker tells us that Suri clapped to the music as Holmes danced along with her daughter,

Tom sends his message of support to former co-star Patrick Swayze: {nl}Tom Cruise, who worked with Swayze on 1983’s “The Outsiders,” sends this message, People reported: “I’ve always known Patrick to be a good man, a fighter. We are all pulling for him and praying for a quick recovery.”{nl}Source: MSNBC

MEDIA BLITZ: TALKING NASCAR WITH TOM CRUISE Sam Alipour (like a cheerleader at a homecoming rally): Tom, Sam Alipour, ESPN The Magazine. Tom Cruise: (Big smile) What’s up, man? Alipour: Huge fan. Cruise: (Bigger smile) Thanks man Alipour: It’s funny, some of the guys on Ryan Newman’s team randomly told me this morning that they love Days of Thunder. Cruise: (Average smile) That’s great. That’s great. (Signs an autograph for a young fan.) Alipour: Do you get that a lot? Cruise: (No smile) What do you mean, do I? I mean, I’m glad people like it. It was a very special film for me. Alipour: Did it make you a NASCAR fan? Cruise: You kidding? Absolutely. No, that’s how I came up with that idea. I was racing

Celebs love the trendy West Hollywood restaurant Madeo for its private booths, good food and low-key atmosphere