Abu Dhabi, UAE — Abu Dhabi will host the Middle East premiere of the eagerly-awaited Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One at a red-carpet event at Emirates Palace on June 26 to be attended by the movie’s cast and crew, including star Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie.
Both the breath-taking landscape of the Liwa desert and the iconic Abu Dhabi Midfield Terminal were used as locations for Paramount Pictures’ movie with the support of Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC), part of the Creative Media Authority.
The shoot – which included building an Arabian village in the desert and multiple sets at the terminal – required a collaborative effort from multiple businesses and entities across Abu Dhabi, including twofour54 Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Airports (AD Airports) and Etihad Airways, the official airline partner of the film.
It is the second time the Mission Impossible franchise has filmed in Abu Dhabi, following the jaw-dropping HALO jump sequence that was shot in Abu Dhabi for 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Along with Tom Cruise and Director Christopher McQuarrie, the other stars of the film due to attend the Middle East Premiere are Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and Simon Pegg.
“Hosting the premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is an honor for Abu Dhabi and is also a reflection of the position the emirate holds as one of MENA’s top film and TV locations,” Khalfan Al Mazrouei, Acting Director General of Creative Media Authority, said.. “We are proud to have worked with such a genre-defining franchise once again and it demonstrates how Abu Dhabi has everything filmmakers need to successfully complete such large, complex productions.”
After more than a year of planning, filming took place in Abu Dhabi in 2021 over 15 days at the height of the pandemic.
As well as building the sets in Liwa and at the Midfield Terminal, the production team also shot on the roof of the 742,000sqm terminal, the longest single standing arch in the world at 180m.
The shoot also benefitted from ADFC’s 30 percent cashback rebate and was supported by numerous other Abu Dhabi-based companies, specialist suppliers, 125 local freelance crew and 250 local extras.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is among the 140 major productions to have shot in Abu Dhabi in the past 10 years, from companies including Disney, Netflix, Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures. Films include Dune and Dune 2, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, 6 Underground and Furious 7, as well as Bollywood hits such as Vikram Vedha, Tiger Zinda Hai and Bharat.