Tom Cruise’s career as a Hollywood mogul has suffered a further blow as his forthcoming film about the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler has been delayed for a second time.

Valkyrie, starring Cruise as the German mastermind of the conspiracy, will not be released until February 2009, nearly eight months after it was scheduled to appear. The delay means that the film will no longer be in prime position for consideration in the awards season early next year, but it may make more money. United Artists (UA), which was revitalised in 2006 when Cruise and Paula Wagner, his business partner, bought a stake, postponed the release to allow Bryan Singer, its director, more time to shoot three scenes. The release was previously pushed back from June to October because Singer had not shot a battle scene that explained how Claus von Stauffenberg, Cruise’s character, lost a hand and an eye in North Africa.

Valkyrieis critical for UA after Lions for Lambs flopped despite the involvement of Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

Clark Woods, president of domestic distribution for the distributor, said that the delay was motivated by a lack of competition for cinemagoers on February 13. “When an opening became available for President’s Day Weekend, we seized the opportunity. Moving into a big holiday weekend is the right move.”

Some commentators have already remarked that the film is unlikely to win any awards. Erik Davis, a contributor to Cinematical, a weblog, said: “Everyone is trashing Tom Cruise for his nonexistent German accent and silly eyepatch.”

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