SEOUL: Bryan Singer is late. Or lost. We're supposed to be doing an interview with him but nobody can find him and the PR girls are getting antsy. Finally, after a wait of almost 30 minutes, he arrives. Apparently, the producer/director and "Valkyrie" star Tom Cruise had taken a scenic route through the kitchens of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul, and one turn led to another and, well, you know.
Still, we've got him now, much to his handler's relief. You've got be quick, she tells us, you've only got 15 minutes. But we want to take a photo with him, too. Okay, 14 minutes, she says.
Hey, lady, it's not our fault the dude got lost in the kitchen.
You called the movie a suspense thriller. But where's the suspense if people already know how the movie ends?
Singer: Well, I try to use that as an advantage as opposed to a disadvantage. Kind of like "Titanic". You know the ship will sink. But I want to tell the things that people don't know about.
Germans know the Stauffenberg story, but outside Germany, few people know the story. So by staying with the story of the characters and particularly with (Colonel Claus von) Stauffenberg, I was able to create a lot of suspense that way.
How did you react to the Stauffenberg family disagreeing with having Tom Cruise play the Colonel?
You read that from the Internet and the press, right? That was Stauffenbergs eldest son Berthold who said something to the press, way back when, perhaps out of scepticism. But then we produced a documentary which he participated in and gave an excellent interview and I think the family was very happy.
We had a screening for the entire Stauffenberg family. It's a very large family - three theatres with people all named Stauffenberg.
The movie is very serious. Were there any Spinal Tap moments making it?
There were many! There was one time we were having lunch in the lunch tent and Tom looks over and we see Hitler - David Bamber - in a tank top eating his lunch by himself! And Tom's like, 'It's Hitler! In a tank top, no less!' That was quite funny and bizarre.
There's a lot of talk about a gay subtext in your movies. Does that bother you?
No, whatever anyone wants to say, fine. That doesn't bother me at all. I mean, if it's inaccurate, I don't like it. Like when people were asking questions about Superman: 'Is he straight or gay?' That was absurd! He's straight, he's been in love with Lois Lane for 70 years!
Things like that seem silly to me. Otherwise, I'm okay. Let people find subtext in "X-Men" and all that - thats okay.
Whats in the pipeline for you?
I'm taking a rest now. The last four years have been crazy. My TV show "House" has passed 100 episodes, it's amazing! I was doing "Superman Returns", and producing a mini series for the Sci-Fi network. I was doing "Dirty Sexy Money" (as executive producer). So now I want to take a step back.
I'm also very interested in the international film scene, in the Korean film industry, which was why I met up with some of them. My next movie will probably be in the science fiction or fantasy realm because I'm really interested in that.
"Superman" again? Nothing specific yet. But you never know.