Know what? 2009 is looking like a much better year to release that movie about the attempted assassination of Adolph Hilter. After all, there are only about seven months left in 2008, and who wants to rush such a masterpiece to theatres if the climate isn't right?

So goes the story of United Artists' Tom Cruise and partner Paula Wagner, who are yanking the Bryan Singer-directed Valkyrie from a 2008 release, putting a hefty amount of distance between the World World II flick and the studio's previous release, the bomb Lions for Lambs.

If you ask MGM distribution chief Clark Woods, the decision was an obvious one: "When an opening became available for Presidents Day weekend, we seized the opportunity." Who knew Presidents Day weekend made for such a blockbuster premiere date?

Or maybe it's the fact that Tom Cruise knows Valkyrie is going to underperform, and he hasn't taken care of that little matter of securing his career's future just yet.