Celebrity Mound

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes stealthily slipped out after the New York premiere of Cruise’s action extravaganza “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” at the Ziegfeld on Monday night. Their mission was meatballs, and the pair headed to the Meatball Shop, where stunned fans lined up outside the joint’s Greenwich Avenue location for a look.

They then swung by MoMA’s “Mission: Impossible” after-party with their own security detail, and Cruise alternately posed for photos with swarms of fans and huddled with director Brad Bird and CAA agent Kevin Huvane. Producer J.J. Abrams said he had a good reason to sit through the screening, even though his movie had already premiered in Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai, Dubai, Moscow, Madrid, Munich, Paris and London.

“It’s the first time my wife has seen the finished cut,” Abrams explained. The screening started more than an hour late because Cruise was held up taping an interview a few blocks away for “The Late Show With David Letterman,” prompting one impatient film insider to huff, “Movie: impossible!” But the wait only seemed to pump expectations. “The good news is it was well worth the wait to see Tom hanging 140 stories from the side of a glass building,” the satisfied guest said afterward.

Also at the premiere were Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Josh Holloway, Viacom honcho Philippe Dauman, Darren Aronofsky and Letterman’s exec-producer Rob Burnett. Looking stunning in a sparkly dress, co-star Paula Patton played it cool by sitting on a couch while the party at MoMA became a swirling vortex around Cruise, standing the entire time. But Patton was apparently saving her energy: She was later spotted dancing till 2 a.m. at Avenue with her crooner husband Robin Thicke, father-in-law Alan and Queen Latifah.

If Tom Cruise has his way, Suri could have a lot of little brothers and sisters.

“I want 10 children. I love kids,” the Valkyrie star says in an interview with UK’s The Sun.

Cruise, 46, is also dad to Connor, 13, and Isabella, 16, his adopted children with ex Nicole Kidman.

“I feel really fortunate to have the teenagers and a two and a half-year-old. It’s a great dynamic,” he says.

So how does Holmes — who just celebrated her 30th birthday — feel about giving birth to a brood that could rival Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s?

“If I’m worried about anything, it’s if she [Katie] can keep up with me,” Cruise jokes. “I’m very active…jumping on couches and whatnot.”

Cruise adds that he’s “a great parent.

“I want to be with my kids, and they get to do all the stuff that I wanted to do when I was growing up,” he says. “My own father wasn’t there much for me and I want to be a different dad to my kids. My family is the most important thing in my life.”

(And despite his split from Kidman, he says: “Nic and I are very committed and successful in sharing the parenting.”)

In addition to raising Suri, whom he calls “so charming, so beautiful…just great,” Cruise says he’s teaching Connor how to motorbike.

“I go to the children’s groups like other daddies,” Cruise says. “At first people look at me like, ‘My God, it’s him!’ and they treat me a little differently.

“But then they realize I’m just a father with my kids,” Cruise adds. “It’s up to me to make everybody else feel okay about the fact that I’m there, and then everything just goes on.”

But when not spending time with his children, Cruise turns his focus to his wife of two years, whom he calls “a very strong, gracious woman and a great comedian.”

“I like doing romantic things, such as bringing flowers and surprising her with things,” Cruise says. “I love candlelit evenings with nice music.

“Married life is very good, very lovely,” he adds. “I feel lucky to have Kate as my wife. She’s an extraordinary woman. She is funny and smart and she likes the same things that I do.”

(source)