WATCH: Tom Cruise arrives in Ladysmith for ‘Mission: Impossible’ location scouting

US actor and producer Tom Cruise, who has been in South Africa for over a month to shoot part eight of the Mission: Impossible movie series, has landed in KwaZulu-Natal.

Northern Natal News reported Cruise landed at the Ladysmith Airfield on Monday morning to film a portion of the film.

Cruise and fellow crew members reportedly landed with an impressive entourage of six helicopters and three planes, including a Boeing Stearman.

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He was due to spend the day scouting out locations in the Drakensberg region to shoot scenes for the movie.

The 59-year-old briefly greeted bystanders before climbing into one of the helicopters, which he piloted.

After taking off from the Ladysmith Airfield, he and his crew headed to the Drakensberg.

Tom Cruise loving SA

After spending a few days in Limpopo, the Top Gun actor described South Africa as “incredible and amazing”, even saying it “would be nice to live here”.

“I’m very excited to be here, I’ve been wanting to film here for a very long time,” Cruise told fans.

“I can’t wait for you to see the new movie.”

The 59-year-old said he’s been working seven days a week, but he hoped to go on a safari once filming was done.

The Jack Reacher star also gushed about seeing lions and cheetahs in passing.

“They were just there in someone’s driveway,” Cruise told fans.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise will once again reprise the role of agent Ethan Hunt. 

Plot details remain a closely guarded secret, but the theme said to run through Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 hints at the two movies being Hunt’s last missions. 

Cruise has played the role of Hunt for over 20 years, with Mission: Impossible first released in 1996. 

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Compiled by Nica Richards. Additional reporting by Narissa Subramoney.

Parts of this article first appeared on Caxton publication Northern Natal News, by Sarika Ramdin. Read the original article here.