Jolie spent 25 minutes with fans

The Cradle of Life, which opens in the UK on Friday, has fared poorly at the US box office and received many negative reviews.

The $90m (�57m) budget film earned about $42m (�26m) in the US in its first two weeks on release - the same amount the first movie earned in its opening weekend.

Jolie and director Jan De Bont attended the premi�re at London's Leicester Square, with the actress stopping to sign autographs for fans.

The star spent 25 minutes with fans who had lined one side of the Square, some waiting more than two hours for a glimpse of her.

Actresses are more able to open themselves up to the big screen Director Jan De Bont

One group of fans told BBC News Online that they would be going to see the film despite the bad publicity emanating from the US.

Jessica Morris, from Guildford, Surrey, said: "I liked the first film and will definitely see the sequel.

"I'm not a fan of the video game but I think Angelina Jolie makes a great heroine."

Mark Hammond, also from Guildford, added: "I prefer the James Bond films but I think Lara Croft might give him a run for his money."

Jolie said she appreciated the support of the fans.

"It's wonderful. I can't imagine coming to these things and not having people here to support us - it would be devastating."

Pictures from the UK premi�re

Jolie, who now lives in the UK with her two-year-old son Maddox, said: "I've started to drink tea and I love English mustard.

"I even did some work in Cambodia recently and had some brought out to me."

Jolie and De Bont will hope that their efforts will be rewarded at the UK box office.

The studio behind the film has blamed poor ticket sales on the problems that hit the recent Lara Croft video game, Angel of Darkness.

The game was affected by delays and received poor reviews but has still sold well.

Some fans had waited hours to see Jolie

The Tomb Raider films are based on the Lara Croft video game character.

Leading the publicity charge, Jan De Bont told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday morning that he had enjoyed working with Jolie.

He said actresses could compete with actors in the action film stakes.

"I really believe that actresses can achieve the same thing as male actors in action films," he said.

"I really tried to create a heroine who can do the same things as male counterparts.

"Actresses are more able to open themselves up to the big screen - they are more gutsy and more daring."

He said putting Lara Croft on the screen from a video game was no more difficult that turning a comic book hero like Batman into a big screen figure.

"Video games are going to be the comic books of the future. They are part of culture."