The details continue to roll in regarding director Bryan Singer's next project, the WWII thriller "Valkyrie." History buffs started piecing it all together last week, when word surfaced that the film would deal with the real-life attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler, but IGN Movies reports that, in an interview with Variety, Singer gave some more specifics.

As it turns out, the film's lead role -- to be played, as previously announced, by Tom Cruise -- is none other than Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg. This is not, despite all appearances to the contrary, a made-up name; in fact, Stauffenberg had an instrumental role in the 1944 bombing of Hitler's briefing hut.

Hitler lived, of course, and things ended rather poorly for his would-be assassins in the German Army, but in demonstrating that not all Germans went blindly along with Hitler's plans, Stauffenberg and his accomplices achieved at least one of their goals.

"Valkyrie" is being made at United Artists, which is run by Cruise and his partner Paula Wagner, but according to Singer, this isn't a case of the boss pulling rank. As he tells Variety:

"I admit in the back of my mind I always thought Tom would be a great fit for this role, beyond his physical resemblance. We met a few times about production and my desire to offer the part to him crystallized."

Source: IGN Movies