Scientology knows no bounds for its legal abuses, and the cult proves this again scaring Amazon.com into pulling sales of The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology “for legal reasons.” This was, of course, the new book by John Duignan, the former Scientologist who claimed that he was so brainwashed that he would have killed for the cult. The Irish Times also reveals that the book detailed Scientology’s quasi-military plans of weapons training of its minions for a “clear the earth” operation. However informative this book may be, UK booksellers have received threats and have also decided, “for legal reasons,” against selling this book:

Duignan, who joined Scientology in 1985 and quit in 2006, writes of his experience in Scientology’s elite Sea Organization, and details the conditioning that made him prepared to kill on behalf of the cult that famously claims actor Tom Cruise as one of its members. During Duignan’s 21 years in Scientology, he was subjected to harsh indoctrination tactics, paid less than $50 a week for 40 hours of work, and witnessed the “Rehabilitation Project Force,” the Scientology organisation’s network of forced-labour detention centres.

Duignan is reported to be “furious and dismayed” at Scientology’s attempts to censor his work, but “not at all surprised given the Church’s record on freedom of expression.”

Apparently, Scientology still refuses to defend itself against any such accusations and continues its “Fair Game” policy with which to harass critics through legal and not-so-legal means. This is nothing new.

Meanwhile, discussion is percolating as to whether Valkyrie will do the following: (1) Totally suck ass; (2) Possibly strike the fatal blow against Cruise’s already faltering career. MGM/UA is still downplaying the film’s lengthy 20-month gestation and also continues to understate the Cruise in its promotional materials, which are voluminous:

MGM plans to invest $60m marketing the film, and is in dire need of a major hit. The firm has been struggling in the credit-crunched economy to raise $650m to finance its next major slate of films, which include two installments of The Hobbit and the next James Bond film.

Its only major successes in recent years have been the past two Bond films, over which it had partial control. The recent collapse of Merrill Lynch, which has a $500m production facility with the company, prompted MGM’s chairman, Harry Sloan, to launch a review of its finances.

Yesterday, The New York Times added to the studio’s woes by revealing that Mr Sloan’s hunt for the new $650m production fund was “dead,” quoting two bankers close to the firm blaming, “in part, the global economic crisis, but also MGM’s staggering $3.7bn debt load.” For Cruise, the stakes are also high. Despite being at the top of the Hollywood tree for a quarter of a century, his private life has become a magnet for negative publicity, thanks mostly to his association with Scientology.

Analyists say that, after the money loss sustained with UA’s Lions for Lambs, “another flop will probably herald the end of his producing career.” Accordingly, it looks like some massive PR bullshit has gone down within MGM by the looks of this gibberish:

Insiders believe the company has corrected early blunders, successfully repositioning the film as a character-driven suspense thriller. The mood inside MGM is not exactly euphoric on the release, but is hardly foreboding. “Let’s face it, there was a time when the movie wasn’t on track; it is now,” said one person with knowledge of the situation, but who asked for anonymity for fear of angering Mr. Cruise.

To some extent, saving the movie has meant soft-pedaling the star. Billboards that blossomed around Los Angeles last week flank a barely recognizable figure of Mr. Cruise with five fellow actors and three slogans. The last of them, notably group-oriented, reads: “The conspiracy begins this December.

This is gonna be an interesting spectacle to watch from afar. In order for Cruise to pull himself back into MGM (and Hollywood’s) good graces again, Valkyrie must make money, and that will take $150 million in U.S. box office receipts (plus that much internationally as well). That sounds, um, not so positive.