By ELIZABETH BINNING
The New Zealand premiere of The Last Samurai in Taranaki last night went off without a hitch - and without the star. There was red carpet, sumo wrestlers and a huge fireworks display, but noticeably missing was Tom Cruise.
The Hollywood leading man portrays a Civil War veteran who
is sent to Japan to train Emperor Meiji's troops in the way of the gun. Cruise, 41, became a local hero while spending six months shooting the movie in Taranaki last year.
He has spent much of his time since telling the world how much he loved New Zealand.
New Plymouth Mayor Peter Tennent said on Friday that Cruise and his business partner had been invited to the red-carpet screening but the pair had a heavy schedule and had not committed either way.
Even as late as yesterday afternoon organisers of the event were still in the dark on whether the star would appear.
Venture Taranaki chief executive Stuart Trundle said film distributor Warner Bros had reserved a row of seats but with just five hours to go before the screening he was still not sure who they were for.
It turned out they were reserved for other key players, such as unit production manager Bill Draper, production designer Lilly Kilvert and costume designer Ngila Dickson.
Hundreds of Taranaki residents, many of whom made up the film's support staff, also attended.
Those without tickets did not miss out. A huge outdoor party was held at the waterfront park Pukeariki Landing. Entertainment included Japanese drummers, a calligraphy and origami workshop, sumo wrestling and a fireworks display.
