Tom Cruise's 'Valkyrie', a World War II thriller scheduled for a Christmas day opening, will be up against a box office challenge. The film starring Tom Cruise as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a would be Hitler assassin, is a risky film to make, due to its sensitive subject matter.

By donning a German army uniform, Cruise who is trying to rehabilitate his image, won't engender any warm feelings in the public. On the other hand, 'Valkyrie' is a serious, suspenseful film, so it may just help put Cruise On Top, once again.

However, on line mocking of early advertisements showing an eye-patched Cruise and Stauffenberg, have given the film more bad publicity than it deserves. But, Cruise,
46, is not discouraged and says he is familiar with bad publicity, having been dogged by rumours about his personal life and films like 1988's 'Rain Man' that seemed doomed before release.

His bout of bad publicity began with a fateful appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show in 2005, followed by an awkward interview with 'Today' show host Matt Lauer and Paramount Pictures severing a 14-year relationship with him, the following year. As Cruise says, 'As I've said, I want an adventurous life, and yet, I've gotten a little bit more adventure than I bargained for.'

But, having revisited Winfrey, earlier this year and having publicly patched thing up with Lauer, a rebound for Tom Cruise is definitely in the works. Only last week, he got a Golden Globe nomination for Ben Stiller's raunchy summer comedy 'Tropic Thunder', in which his hilarious performance as a dirty-dancing, foul-mouthed studio head won accolades.

As Cruise jokingly says, 'Go kill Hitler on Christmas!'