Germany officially ban Tom Cruise from filming at military sites

For the past several days German officials have be speaking out against Tom Cruise and Scientology. They called The Church of Scientology a money making cult. The Defense Ministry also said they refused to let Cruise film his WWII movie ‘Valkyrie’ on German military sites because of his belief in Scientology.

The German Finance Ministry confirmed Monday that permission to film on the sites still would not be granted but it had nothing to do with Cruise playing the staring role or scientology. Instead the answer came as a result of bad experiences with the only film maker who has ever shot a film there. The bad experience led the ministry to ban all future films from being filmed there.

Finance Ministry spokesman Stefan Olbermann said “They will not be permitted to film at the Bendlerblock but this has nothing to do with [Scientology.] We welcome the fact that such a film is being made. We don’t think it would be appropriate to film there.”

‘Valkyrie’ is the story of Colonel Claus Von Stauffenburg who plotted to kill Adolf Hitler by putting a bomb in his briefcase. The plan failed and Stauffenburg was executed.

At accusations that Cruise’s personal beliefs would be a factor in the movie, Paula Wagner, Cruise’s producing partner, said the actor's “personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie’s plot, themes, or content.”

"Even though we could shoot the movie anywhere in the world, we believe Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice," Wagner said.

Despite the ban on filming at military sites the Berlin studio in charge of finding shooting locations said they are not concerned, they say “everything is ready to go.” They are allowed to shoot at a part of the Bendlerblock memorial because a certain part is owned by German Resistance Memorial Center and they have permission to shoot there.

“They have given us permission like they have done for other Stauffenburg films before,” said the head of Babelsberg Studios, Carl Woebken.

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