Tarantino hits red carpet with Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino brought his World War II epic Inglourious Basterds to London last night, for the film's UK premiere. The Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill director was joined by some of his cast, including German actress Diane Kruger and Christoph Waltz, who won best actor at Cannes for playing an SS officer.

Tarantino said he was "overwhelmed" by the screaming fans. "I'm very proud of this. I can't wait to see what the audience thinks of it."

Meanwhile Kruger, dressed in a strapless little black dress from Balmain and studded Christian Louboutin heels, probably made a few new fans of her own from the Leicester Square crowd.

The actress, who plays a German movie star who works as a double agent, said last night that she was keen to be in the film because it was not a typical Nazi role. "Being German, you get a lot of World War II movie offers and [in] this one we re-wrote history."

Also adding a touch of Hollywood glamour were actors Mickey Rourke and Neve Campbell and singer Rihanna.

Notably absent from the premiere was Brad Pitt, who plays the leader of a band of Jewish American soldiers dropped into France to get revenge on the Nazi occupiers. The actor, who attended the film's world premiere at Cannes in May, is currently in Los Angeles with his six children while partner Angelina Jolie is in Iraq.

Earlier this week Tarantino admitted to chatshow Jonathan Ross that he wooed Brad Pitt for Inglourious Basterds by getting him drunk on eight bottles of rosé. He also told Ross he would love to direct a Bond film.

In the final show of the current season which airs on BBC One tonight, the director said he had pitched the idea of making Casino Royale to Bond producers several years ago. "They said it was unfilmable... I would have done it with Pierce Brosnan."

But for his next project Tarantino is considering a rom-com. He told Ross: "I think I'd be really good at it."

Inglourious Basterds is released in the UK on August 21. ·