Tom Cruise movie "Mena" now filming in Madison

After thoroughly charming the good people of Ball Ground, Tom Cruise has moved east.

His movie "Mena," has recently been filming in Madison.

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Photo: Atlanta Filming

The movie, about a pilot working for both the CIA and as a drug runner in the 1980s, has featured period clothing and cars. Ball Grounders and now Madisonians have had the opportunity to glimpse Cruise behind the wheel of a retro station wagon, sporting vintage threads and standing in a historical relic known as a phone booth.

"The movie crew did a wonderful job turning Ball Ground into Mena, Ark.," said resident Daniel Sisson, who took this photo. "Everyone involved with the production was very nice and accommodating. It has been a wonderful experience for my family and our town. We hope they choose our town again someday."

The real Mena is a town in Arkansas, population just under 6,000. Its motto is “Where good things happen,” but its airport has been the subject of allegations claiming “that the CIA was somehow involved in running guns to Nicaragua and that agency-chartered planes may have been used to smuggle cocaine into the United States,” according to a 1996 Associated Press report.

The CIA investigated itself and cleared itself of responsibility.