Summary

TAPE: EF02/0879 IN_TIME: 14:06:47 / 21:06:47 DURATION: 3:53 SOURCES: Warner Bros Pictures VNR RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: Himeji, Japan, 11th October 2002 SHOTLIST 1 Pan of fans waiting 2 Close up of mother and child waiting 3 Close up of female fans 4 Pan from babies to mothers with cameras 5 Tom Cruise arriving and shaking hands with fans 6 Tom Cruise shakes hands with fans 7 Close up of police 8 Wide shot of helicopter 9 Various of Tom Cruise shaking hands with fans 10 Medium shot of press 11 Fans with cameras and Tom Cruise autographs to fans 12 Close up of Tom Cruise signing autographs and waving 13 Tom signing photo 14 Close up of fan holding poster reading 'Vanilla Sky' 15 Medium shot of fans 16 Wide of Tom Cruise speaking 17 SOT TOM CRUISE (English): Thank you for your warm welcome I will never forget this You are very kind and generous 18 Wide shot of helicopter 19 Close up of Tom waving to fans from inside helicopter TOM CRUISE MEETS JAPANESE FANS Superstar TOM CRUISE took time out from shooting his new film 'THE LAST SAMURAI' on location in Japan to meet fans - and was greeted by an eager crowd of almost 1,000 Cruise is filming Edward Zwick's historical action movie between two Japanese cities, Himeji City in Hyogo prefecture and Kyoto city - the location sets are completely closed to the public But since filming began on Thursday 10th October, die-hard fans have been gathering in large numbers near a temporary heliport in Himeji City, hoping to see Cruise arrive for filming and leave again for his hotel The crowd has been growing by the day, as rumours of Cruise-sightings circulated amongst his fans On Friday, nearly 1,000 fans were counted at the heliport Police were mobilised to cope with the excited crowd, as Cruise shook hands, waved and signed autographs 'The Last Samurai' is set in the 19th century Cruise plays Civil War hero Captain Nathan Algren, in Japan in the late 18702 to train Japanese troops in modern combat Emperor Meiji has arranged for the training as part of his plan to modernise the military and break away from the tradition of employing samurai warriors to protect land But as conflict between old and new ways grow, Algren is injured and captured by the samurai He learns about their warrior honour code from samurai leader Katsumoto, and soon begins to feel torn Scottish comedian-turned-actor Billy Connolly and English actor Timothy Spall also feature Cruise is also a producer on the film 'The Last Samurai' will continue filming in New Zealand and the USA after Japan The movie is scheduled to premiere simultaneously in the USA and Japan in December 2003