Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise arrives in Ladysmith and greets the locals! Image via YouTube The Ladysmith Gazette

Man on a mission: Tom Cruise off to Drakensberg for location scouting

From Hoedspruit to Drakensberg! Award-winning actor Tom Cruise is in KwaZulu-Natal to scout some locations for ‘Mission Impossible 8’.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise arrives in Ladysmith and greets the locals! Image via YouTube The Ladysmith Gazette

After spending some time in Hoedspruit, Limpopo, to film a few scenes for the eighth instalment of Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise landed at the Ladysmith Airfield in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday 28 March.

According to Northern Natal News, Cruise will be scouting out locations in the Drakensberg for the film. 

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TOM CRUISE SCOUTS LOCATIONS IN KWAZULU-NATAL

As per Northern Natal News, Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible production crew landed at the Ladysmith Airfield on 28 March with six helicopters and three planes. 

Cruise greeted all the locals before climbing into one of the helicopters. 

The 59-year-old actor also stopped to greet some of the bystanders and many couldn’t help but take a few photos of the hunky Hollywood actor. 

“Hi, how are you?” asked Cruise before posing for a photo.

TAKE A LOOK 

TOM CRUISE LOVES SOUTH AFRICA! 

While shooting in Hoedspruit, Tom Cruise was welcomed by the locals every day. “Anytime between 16:30 and 18:30 he returns and lands in the same spot,” Mel Owtram told Channel24

“The security guards are extremely friendly and chat and even take selfies with the kids.”

While mingling with the locals, Cruise said it would be nice to live in South Africa permanently. 

“I’m very excited to be here, I’ve been wanting to film here for a very long time. I can’t wait for you to see the new movie.” 

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WHEN TO EXPECT ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 8’ 

According to Forbes, Mission Impossible 7 is set to be released on 14 July 2023. Mission Impossible 8, which is currently being filmed in South Africa, will be released on 28 June 2024. 


The film will be Tom Cruises’ final film as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series.