Berlin - A re-shoot of the execution of German resistance hero Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, played by Tom Cruise, is set for this weekend, sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Monday.
Extras pictured during the shooting of 'Valkyrie' at German Resistance Memorial Centre 'Bendlerblock' in Berlin, Germany, 23 September 2007. EPA/JOHANNES EISELE
The night-time scene was first shot two weeks ago at the Bendler Block, a government office building in the capital, but the film team said some of the negatives were ruined in development by the chemicals.
Government property officials and the film producers said Monday they had reached agreement on a renewed permit at the sensitive site, which is sacred to the memory of the only major plot to overthrow Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
The movie, Valkyrie, portrays the true-life plot to assassinate Hitler with a bomb on July 20, 1944 at his Wolf's Lair headquarters.
The German authorities initially refused permission for filming at the memorial, but later agreed on condition due respect was shown to the resistance leaders and the film showed that democracy triumphed in Germany in the end.
The building is still used by the Defence Ministry.
During the initial filming, the actors and crew did not eat and observed a minute's silence. Cruise, who plays Count Stauffenberg, spoke to those present, thanking the German authorities for giving permission.
Valkyrie has been beset by controversy from the start.
There were strong objections from some in Germany at the outset to the idea that Cruise should play a German hero, mainly because Cruise is a Scientology devotee.
The original ban on filming in the Bendler Block was even referred to in a recent US State Department report on religious freedom, which criticized Germany for discriminating against Scientology.
Colonel Stauffenberg and three other plotters were summarily shot at the site when Hitler survived the blast and the Nazis raced to suppress the plot before it spread.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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