All smiles at Cruise film premiere

Cruise takes a photo of himself and a fan

LONDON, England -- Hollywood star Tom Cruise spent an hour and a half mingling with 3,000 fans who gathered for the British premiere of his latest film, the futuristic "Minority Report."

Cruise chatted with fans and posed for photographs during a walkabout outside the cinema in London's Leicester Square on Wednesday.

"Minority Report" is directed by Steven Spielberg and is tipped to be one of this summer's blockbuster movies.

The 39-year-old actor also signed autographs and developed his growing trademark of using fans' mobile phones to speak to their friends and relatives.

Cruise said his only problem was getting the people on the other end of the line to believe it was really him.

"It's great fun to chat to people's friends and family members on the phone," he said.

"I just say 'hello, how are you,' but most of the time they don't believe it's me. So sometimes they hang up on me."

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Lisa Thornborrow, 22, from Bexley Heath, Kent, was one of the many fans who handed the star her phone so he could speak to her mother at home.

"She's not a particularly big Tom Cruise fan but I knew that he likes speaking on mobiles at things like this so I just shouted and handed it over to him," she said.

Lisa said her mother, Ellen Thornborrow, 50, had not believed it was him at first.

"She couldn't believe it. He said 'Hi, it's Tom and I'm going to take the phone away' and she said 'No don't do that.' She didn't know what to say," Lisa added.

Joanne Sharp, from St John's Wood, north London, had her mobile connected for 30 minutes hoping Cruise would pick it up.

Her patience paid off when Cruise took the phone and spoke to her mother, Denise Coundon, 48, at home in Northumberland, north of England.

"She loves Tom Cruise and he asked how she was. She couldn't believe it.

"She wished him a happy birthday for next week and said goodbye. She loved it," said the 23-year-old.

Cruise and his former wife, Nicola Kidman, previously spent months living in London when they filmed "Eyes Wide Shut," and the star said he was delighted to be back.

His current partner, Penelope Cruz, who is away filming, did not accompany him.

Cruise waves at the fans

"It's really nice to spend time here and I am always very excited about coming to London," he said.

"I am always surprised that so many people show up to see me and I just want them to know how much I appreciate it."

The "Mission Impossible" star arrived for the premiere sporting braces on his teeth after having them fitted four months ago.

In "Minority Report," Cruise plays a police officer in Washington, D.C., in 2054, when psychic technology is used to predict crimes.

But the tables are turned when Cruise's character is identified as a future murderer of a man he has never met and sets off in a race against time to find his intended victim and avert the crime.

His co-star in the $80 million film is British actress Samantha Morton, who plays one of the psychics.

The 25-year-old actress, brought up in foster care in Nottingham, first made her name playing a prostitute in the British TV series "Band of Gold" and went on to earn an Oscar nomination for her role in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown."