While Tom Cruise is back in theaters now in "Tropic Thunder" (making a cameo as a fat, bald studio executive in the world's worst-kept casting secret), the date of his next STARRING performance has been unclear. The WWII drama "Valkyrie" has been bounced around the release calendar so many times I've lost count. Last we heard, the Bryan Singer-directed ("X-Men", "Superman Returns" helmer) thriller was due to open early 2009. Now we're told it's been pushed back to December 26th.

Considering the prime Christmas weekend positioning, it sounds like the studio heads at MGM have had their faith restored in the project. That's good news for Cruise, who badly needs a hit to repair his battered image. This comes on the heels of this week's announcement that his longtime production partner Paula Wagner is leaving United Artists. That's the studio she revived with Cruise. Various industry reports indicate Wagner was forced out because she couldn't get new movies on track.