Unconventional

Rethinking Tom Cruise

Valkyrie held its own at box office.

Are fans rethinking the dismissal of Tom Cruise? While it’s no certain comeback, his Nazi thriller Valkyrie did hold its own at a very competitive Christmas box office, taking in an estimated $8.5 million on Thursday despite mixed reviews and a subject devoid of sex appeal. “Valkyrie did just fine,” said one box office tracker, considering it was up against ticket record-setters Marley & Me ($14.6 million) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ($11.8 million). Even discounting Cruise’s unpopular antics, Valkyrie may be the little film that could. After premiere-date switches, production drama, and a year of being the punch line of jokes, it fared better than Cruise’s last feature, Lions for Lambs, which costarred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.