Extras seek $11m from Tom Cruise after accident

(Reuters)

Tom Cruise's ill-fated World War II epic 'Valkyrie' has been hit by a $11m (£6m) law suit filed by a group of film extras who suffered broken bones, cuts and bruises after they were thrown out of a lorry during shooting in Berlin last year.

The claim is the latest in a string of calamities which have dogged the production starring the controversial Church of Scientology member since filming began more than a year ago.

Eleven extras who were hired on short-term contracts for the United Artists production, were all sitting in a 1940s-era troop carrier when its side railings gave way as the vehicle rounded a bend on a set in the centre of the German capital.

The extras, all still wearing their Nazi army uniforms, were taken to hospital for treatment. One of them was kept under observation for four days because of fears that he had suffered serious internal injuries. Tom Cruise was not on the set at the time.

Yesterday Arianna Bluttner, the lawyer for the extras, insisted that the studio knew that the trucks used in the sequence were not entirely safe. “There was even an internal memo about the railings,” she said. “A new letter has been sent to Tom Cruise and United Artists which sets out the facts of the case again and puts a figure of $11m on the legal demands of our clients,” she added.

Valkyrie tells the story of the abortive 1944 attempt by a group of senior German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. It relies heavily on genuine locations in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg for its authenticity

Cruise plays the leading role as Claus von Stauffenberg, the aristocratic ringleader who was shot dead in the courtyard of German army headquarters in Berlin. He was caught only hours after planting a suitcase bomb next to Hitler's at the dictator's Wolf's Lair command centre in eastern Prussia. The bomb exploded but only slightly injured the Nazi leader.

Von Stauffenberg, who objected to the Nazi persecution of the Jews, is one of the few German anti-Nazi heroes of World War II. He remains a revered figure. The Stauffenberg family objected almost as soon as it became known that Cruise was to play the part because of the actor's controversial Scientology membership

The spiritual organisation recently set up a European headquarters in Berlin but it is officially regarded in Germany as a money-making cult and kept under surveillance by the intelligence services. The government has refused to acknowledge the organisation's claim to be a religion and Cruise's film role has sparked a national debate about the movement.

Berthold von Stauffenberg, the hero's son, stated publicly that he found it “unpleasant” that an “avowed Scientologist” was to play his father. He dismissed the film as a publicity stunt and said it was “bound to be rubbish.”

The German army followed suit by banning United Artists from using the courtyard where von Stauffenberg was shot as a location. It later relented. The Berlin police then denied the film crew access to other key locations. The production company was also immersed in a row for demanding the right to hang Nazi Swastika banners from buildings in a country where displaying the symbol is illegal. However, the city authorities eventually gave the go ahead.

Valkyrie's release date has already been postponed a number of times. Key scenes had to be re-shot because sections of film were inadvertently destroyed during the developing process. The verdict of audiences who have been allowed to screen test the film is that the production is boring. United Artists is currently re-working the material. The earliest release date is now February next year.