(Tom) Cruising in South Africa

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise is famous for roaming the world in search of adventurous new locations for his Missions Impossible movies. And it just so happens his latest shoot was in KwaZulu-Natal, not far from Babanango Game Reserve.

According to a report in the Sunday Times newspaper, Cruise flew into the province by helicopter and touched down at Ladysmith Airport before flying off to the nearby Bergville and the Drakensberg mountains for location shooting. 

“Tom Cruise’s choice of a film location underscores what we continue to communicate to the world that KZN is one of the best film destinations in Africa and the world,” Jackie Motsepe of the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission told the newspaper.

The Sunday Times also reported that Cruise has been spotted elsewhere in South Africa during the movie shoot including Limpopo, Blyde River Canyon and Swadini.

Mission Possible 8 is scheduled to hit cinemas in 2023. When asked by locals why he decided to film the latest installment in the franchise in South Africa, Cruise reportedly said “Because it’s a beautiful country.”

No more so than Babanango Game Reserve in eastern KwaZulu-Natal.