United Artists has again pushed back the release date for Tom Cruise's Second World War-era film Valkyrie, this time to February 2009.

It is the second delay in release of the much-anticipated film, which tells the story of a German officer who led a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Tom Cruise, appearing on the set of Valkyrie last August, plays the failed Hitler assassin Col. Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg.
(Studio Babelsberg AG/Associated Press)

Officials with the studio United Artists said Tuesday the film will now be released on the President's Day weekend in the U.S. — starting Feb. 13, 2009 — giving it a long weekend to draw viewers.

It had been scheduled for a July 4 release, but abandoned that slot because it would be competing with Angelina Jolie's thriller Wanted, according to the Hollywood Reporter.  Its second release date was set for Oct. 3.

The film has also been plagued by delays in production, including an accident in August 2007 that sent 11 of the film's extras to hospital.

Some of the film's footage was also damaged during processing, and had to be reshot.

The German government initially refused, but was eventually persuaded to allow Valkyrie to be shot in Berlin's Bendlerblock, a building that served as the country's military headquarters during the Second World War and now holds a memorial to the officers executed after the plot failed.

Cruise stars in the film, produced with partner Paula Wagner. The pair are trying to revive the once-moribund United Artists, and Valkyrie was to be the second film out of the gate at the studio.

The first film since the pair bought UA, Lions for Lambs, was a critical and financial flop, so much is riding on the success of Valkyrie.

With files from the Associated Press