as the years pass . `` Button '' is based on the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and runs two hours and 47 minutes . The cast includes Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett , who is creating Oscar buzz this year as well for her portrayal of Daisy in `` Button . '' The film , released by Paramount Pictures , already has won several film critics ' awards . 3 . `` Marley & Me '' -- Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston learn life lessons from an out-of-control canine they decide to adopt . This comedy-drama is adapted from the best-selling novel by John Grogan . Some audiences expecting a feel-good comedy such as `` Turner & Hooch '' or `` Beethoven '' may be surprised by this painfully realistic portrayal that could leave audiences teary-eyed at the end . The supporting cast includes Alan Arkin and Kathleen Turner . The PG-rated film gets a 20th Century Fox release . 4 . `` Bedtime Stories '' -- Funny guy Adam Sandler shoots for the family crowd with this fantasy comedy about a hotel handyman who tells his niece and nephew a bedtime story , only to find out
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Thursday brings one of the biggest slates of Hollywood entertainment to open on Christmas Day in many years . Tom Cruise stars as would-be Hitler assassin Col. Claus von Stauffenberg in the World War II drama `` Valkyrie . '' Stars such as Tom Cruise , Brad Pitt and Adam Sandler are featured in a slew of big-budget movies hoping to lure people into theaters this holiday season . Here are the top five movies opening Thursday : 1 . `` Valkyrie '' -- Tom Cruise stars in the true story of a German military officer who conspires to assassinate Adolf Hitler . Cruise plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg , a proud military man who realizes that Hitler must be stopped before Germany and Europe collapse under Nazi rule . Joining Cruise are three-time Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh as Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow and twice-nominated actor Tom Wilkinson as Gen. Friedrich Fromm . United Artists is releasing the film . 2 . `` The Curious Case of Benjamin Button '' -- Brad Pitt stars in this fantasy drama about a man who ages backward . He 's born in his 80s and then gets younger