American actor Tom Cruise has suffered a huge blow with the news that his next big film 'Valkyrie' has been postponed until 2009.

The movie, which tells the story of the 1944 assassination plot against Adolf Hitler, had first been postponed from this summer to the autumn and it is now not expected to appear until next year.

"We were originally expecting the film to be released in June," Times Online quoted a senior executive at one of Britain's leading cinema chains, as saying.

"I know there have been all sorts of problems with this production and we will not be screening it at all this year," the executive added.

The film has not only dealt a blow to the actor, but also his more recent incarnation as a movie mogul at United Artists (UA), the studio, which made the film.

A critic in Hollywood has declared, "Valkyrie is dead", and another has stated that the film's problems could also wreck the revival of UA.

Cruise, whose earlier career saw hit after hit with Top Gun, Rain Man and Jerry Maguire, is a stakeholder in UA, which was originally founded by Charlie Chaplin and other stars.

It has since passed through several different owners until Cruise re-launched it as a major studio in 2006.

Valkyrie has been directed by Bryan Singer, who is best known for The Usual Suspects and X-Men.

The new film, which was mostly shot last year at a cost of 45m pounds, has so far left test audiences unimpressed.