It's not all bad news for United Artists this morning! The thrice-switched release date for Tom Cruise's upcoming blockbuster Valkyrie — in which he stars as an eye-patched member of the Third Reich who tries to kill Hitler (but not too hard) — has been changed again. But this time it's being moved ahead from its planned opening on February 13, 2009, to December 26, 2008, ruining our Valentine's Day plans but putting the film squarely back into contention for next year's Oscars! Studio sources tell Variety the change was made for "purely commercial reasons" (movies about Nazi in-fighting always perform well around the holidays) and that "award consideration was not a factor," probably because everyone knows Valkyrie will pick up at least a dozen Oscars no matter which year it comes out.

'Valkyrie' cruises back to 2008 [Variety]

Earlier: Hold Those Oscars! Tom Cruise's Nazi Movie Delayed Till February