Relax, it's just a film...

"These horrible events happened, but we had to go with the material we had. It didn't affect the film on the cutting room floor." He denied that the release date - originally set for 5 November - had been put back because of the attack.

Star Wars actress Natalie Portman, playing a young woman whose life is saved by a revolutionary vigilante (Hugo Weaving), said: " Ultimately it's an action movie and I think it's very entertaining."

But the Jerusalem-born actress added: "Coming from Israel it was very interesting for me to explore the mindset of someone that goes from being against violence to someone who uses violence to express themselves."

Portman's hair is growing back "slowly but surely" after she had to shave her head in the film. "It was actually kind of wonderful to throw vanity away for a little bit," she said.

The film, now due to be released on Friday of next week, was written and produced by Matrix creators Andy and Larry Wachowski.

It also stars John Hurt and Stephen Fry, who plays a talkshow host hired by the Government of a dystopian Britain of the future.

Fry said: "We don't know what's going to happen in 20 years but it's certainly possible the liberty of the individual will be compromised, if not by the state by a combination of the state and billions of bits of data floating around us which anyone can access.

"There's no question that things will be up in the air in a way that we probably can't even imagine."