The seventh instalment was shot in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa desert as well as its new Midfield Terminal airport building, with the support of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission.
Abu Dhabi will host the Middle East premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One at a red-carpet event at Emirates Palace on June 26 attended by the movie’s cast and crew, including star Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie.
An iconic Abu Dhabi Midfield Terminal and the landscape of the Liwa desert were used as locations for Paramount Pictures’ movie with the support of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC), part of the Creative Media Authority. Abu Dhabi entities twofour54 Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Airports (AD Airports) and Etihad Airways, the film’s official airline partner, collaborated on the shoots, which involved the construction of an Arabian village in the desert as well as multiple sets at the airport terminal.
The Commission supported the team by securing approvals and permits for the shoot at both the Abu Dhabi Midfield Terminal and in Liwa, liaising closely with multiple stakeholders and Abu Dhabi government entities.
It is the second time the Mission Impossible franchise has filmed in Abu Dhabi, following the HALO jump sequence that was shot in Abu Dhabi for 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, again with the support of ADFC, twofour54 and the UAE military.
Speaking about the premiere, Khalfan Al Mazrouei, Acting Director General of Creative Media Authority, said: “Hosting the premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is an honour for Abu Dhabi and is also a reflection of the position the emirate holds as one of MENA’s top film and TV locations. 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, yet there was no disruption caused by COVID-19 due to the ADFC protocols put in place in Abu Dhabi.
As well as building the sets in Liwa and at the Midfield Terminal, the production team also shot on the roof of the 742,000 sqm terminal, the longest single-standing arch in the world at 180m.
The shoot also benefitted from ADFC’s 30% cashback rebate and was supported by numerous other Abu Dhabi-based companies, specialist suppliers, 125 local freelance crew and 250 local extras.
Meanwhile, twofour54 supported the Mission Impossible team with full production services, and, through its Tawasol team, also secured shooting permits and managed applications for the other government services needed to ensure a smooth and seamless production.
