Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh and Chris Pine on the red carpet for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Keira Knightley was joined on the red carpet in Leicester Square by co-star Chris Pine and director Sir Kenneth Branagh for the European premiere of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Branagh also stars as Russian villain Viktor Cherevin.

The action thriller, based on the novels by Tom Clancy, sees Pine take on the role of the CIA agent previously portrayed on screen by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck.

Pine wore a tweed suit with a silk pocket handkerchief for the premiere, and revealed he'd regretted not visiting a tailor on Savile Row while filming the movie in London. "I love British style, the tweed is definitely my ode to the British banker of the 30s," he said.

The majority of the film is set in Russia, and though some filming was done in Moscow, much of the shooting saw Liverpool, Manchester and London substituted for the Russian capital.

Sir Kenneth said the cast and crew had to become as nimble as secret agents to get the location shoots done as quickly as possible.

"We got a move on, just like Jack Ryan does in Moscow, we moved like the wind," he said.

"You have to because the Moscow traffic and everything about Moscow moves very, very fast and people do tend to get a little bit suspicious if you hang around for too long, and some people you do want to stay out of the way of.

"So we were as polite and grateful for a kind welcome in Moscow, but we moved very quickly."

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit goes on general release on Friday.