The 59-year-old Hollywood star \u2013 who plays IMF agent Ethan Hunt in the blockbuster action-adventure franchise \u2013 is believed to have hired \u201cthree bi-planes\u201d for his stunts after learning how to fly a World War II plane, the 1943 Boeing Stearman Model 75, in the UK last year. (Witnesses in KZN say they\u2019ve seen four biplanes.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u2018Top Gun\u2019 star \u2013 whose heavily delayed seventh \u2018Mission: Impossible\u2019 film won\u2019t hit cinemas until 2023 \u2013 has been filming the next movie in Limpopo, where he formed a bond with Hoedspruit locals who gathered to watch him arrive and leave each day in a helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This month, filming has moved to KwaZulu-Natal, where it\u2019s believed the crew are staying at Nambiti Private Game Reserve near Ladysmith. They\u2019ve booked 16 lodges, with 250 beds, for at least three weeks, according to insiders. Some of the production team have remained in Hoedspruit.https:\/\/1edcddadc902d221e75e2429f34e4c6c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-38\/html\/container.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n A source told The Sun newspaper\u2019s Bizarre column: \u201cTom doesn\u2019t do anything by halves and just like \u2018Mission: Impossible 7\u2019, the eighth film is going to be absolutely huge. No expense has been spared for this production.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The source said Tom and his team first flew to Limpopo for filming and set up a \u201chuge base there\u201d. While staying in Hoedspruit, Tom would fly \u201cthe 400-mile round-trip for filming by helicopter most days\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider added how fans can expect \u201cabsolutely massive\u201d scenes from the big-budget flick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They said: \u201cThe action on the production is only just getting started and Tom is going to be working on some of the franchise\u2019s biggest and most expensive stunts to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe has hired three bi-planes for stunts he was rehearsing in the UK last year. Tom learned to fly the planes and now he\u2019ll put all that into practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe scenes are going to be absolutely massive and some of the most impressive ever seen in the \u2018Mission: Impossible\u2019 films.\u201d With stunning locations such as Blyde River Canyon and the Drakensberg \u2013 the scenes are sure to be jaw-dropping, and to showcase South Africa in a way that will attract tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom and the crew arrived in KZN last week with \u201can impressive entourage of six helicopters and three planes, including a Boeing Stearman\u201d, according to the Ladysmith Gazette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom told fans: \u201cI\u2019m very excited to be here, I\u2019ve been wanting to film here for a very long time. I can\u2019t wait for you to see the new movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom also flies planes in \u2018Top Gun: Maverick\u2019 (due for release in SA on 27 May), and previously promised fans that there has \u201cnever been\u201d an aerial scene quite like the one that will be featured in the movie \u2013 the sequel to the 1986 hit \u2018Top Gun\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The actor, reprises the part of Lieutenant Pete \u2018Maverick\u2019 Mitchell, recalled: \u201cI said to the studio, \u2018You don\u2019t know how hard this movie\u2019s going to be. No one\u2019s ever done this before.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s never been an aerial sequence shot this way. I don\u2019t know if there ever will be again, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.sapeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Tom-Cruise-SA-film-shoot.jpg\" "\\"\\"")