Tom Cruise spotted in Hampshire (From Daily Echo)

Tom Cruise spotted in Hampshire

1:50pm Friday 18th January 2013 in News By Melanie Adams, Health Reporter

HE’S one of the world’s biggest movie stars and rumours are rife that he has been cruising around one Hampshire town.

From shooting his latest Mission Impossible film in Dubai, to enjoying the sunshine of New Zealand while filming The Last Samurai – Tom Cruise has worked in some of the world’s most exotic locations.

But it seems the set of the Top Gun star’s next movie is Hampshire.

News that the Hollywood hunk has been spotted in the county has caused a heady cocktail of excitement among Hampshire fans all eager to get a glimpse of their big screen hero.

Social networking sites have been inundated with claims of sightings of the 50-year-old Scientologist in Andover and nearby Stockbridge for the filming of his next movie, All You Need Is Kill.

In the science fiction action film, based on a Japanese novel of the same name, Cruise plays an army lieutenant fighting an alien invasion.

Just last month he caused a stir while filming the movie, due for release in March 2014, when he landed a helicopter in Trafalgar Square in London.

The rumours come less than a week after it was revealed that Hampshire’s economy last year got a £3m boost from six films being shot in the county, including Skyfall and the Oscar-nominated Les Miserables.

This saw Hollywood stars such as Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway descend on the region, with hundreds of other members of cast and crew all staying in local hotels.

Those in the town hope that All You Need Is Kill will spark a boost for tourism in the region and put Andover on the map when it comes to movie locations.

Councillor Ian Carr, leader of Test Valley Borough Council, welcomes such a big star to the region.

He told the Daily Echo: “I haven’t heard the rumours but it would be very exciting to have Tom Cruise filming in the town.

“If they are filming on private property, the council would not necessarily need to know it was happening.

“It would be really great for Andover because it would become a bit of a tourist attraction and may even bring in work if they wanted extras.

“We do try to promote Andover as a film location and we did produce a leaflet some time ago, listing the many great locations we have here in the town, including our beautiful countryside and many spots along the river.”