The Flight of the Valkyrie

Everyone has an opinion about the release-date move of the Bryan Singer-Tom Cruise Hitler-assassination-plot-thriller Valkyrie, from October 2008 to Valentine's Day 2009. The movement from semi-Oscar season to the early part of next year doesn't look like a vote of confidence. It's true that some films have made late-year moves and have turned out well. The two best films of last year, Zodiac and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, come to mind. But on the face of it, moving a Cruise-anchored film out of the prime season does not bode well.