Tokyo War of the Worlds premiere cancelled

The planned world premiere in Tokyo of Steven Spielberg's new film War of the Worlds has been cancelled because of concerns about security, and a lack of measures to prevent illegal recording, its distributor said.

The film, starring Tom Cruise, is a new take on H.G. Wells' Martian invasion classic and was set to debut at Tokyo's Budokan arena next week.

"To our regret, we have decided to cancel the showing because of safety concerns," distributor UIP said on its website.

The distributor was worried about insufficient security for the film's stars attending the premiere.

It was also concerned that some among an expected audience of 7000 might illegally record images and sound during the screening.