Arashi's Jun Matsumoto made a public appearance on Sunday at the University of Southern California for a special screening of Shinji Higuchi's "Kakushi Toride no San Akunin: THE LAST PRINCESS," a remake of a classic Akira Kurosawa film. The university is the alma mater of George Lucas, whose "Star Wars" was inspired by the original Kurosawa opus.

Matsumoto greeted the crowd in English, and he was joined on stage by actor Anthony Daniels, who played the character of C-3PO in Lucas' "Star Wars." The audience of 300 people consisted mostly of students, and among them were 36 members of a fan club naming themselves the "Arashi Secret Agency" (a reference to the group's show "Himitsu no Arashi-chan!").

The film opens in Japan on May 10, with future openings planned for Thailand and Taiwan. Negotiations are in progress for North American and European releases.