Is 'Mission Impossible' currently filming in the UAE's Empty Quarter?

It looks like the blockbuster is filming in our own backyard…

Following weeks of speculation as to whether the blockbuster film franchise ‘Mission Impossible’ was relocating to the UAE, it seems director Christopher McQuarrie has dropped the biggest hint yet that filming is currently underway here.

The Mission Impossible team is currently working on the seventh and eighth installments of the action blockbuster, ahead of expected release dates in the summer of 2021 and 2022. Rumours first started circulating that a relocation was imminent when The Sun quoted an on-set source as saying: “Shooting will resume in the UK later this week before it goes off to Dubai”. Then, just a week later, eagle-eyed followers of Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram spotted Abu Dhabi’s iconic skyscrapers shrouded in fog.

While the production team is yet to confirm anything official, there have been unconfirmed sightings of Tom Cruise and the Mission Impossible team in Abu Dhabi this week. And Christopher McQuarrie has wasted no time in posting what appear to be photos of the UAE’s Empty Quarter on his Instagram feed.

Here’s what we’ve found…

Director Christopher McQuarrie shared this moody monochrome snap of masked riders atop camels and horses, in what’s believed to be Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter.

Fans are speculating that this shrouded person is either Rebecca Ferguson, who played former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust in ‘Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation’, or possibly even Tom Cruise himself. Although given that lock of blonde hair escaping from the headscarf, we’re leaning towards the former.

An epic sunrise over windswept dunes.

An abandoned home, slowly being swallowed by the sand.

Further fuelling speculation that the Mission Impossible team is no longer filming in London, Rebecca Ferguson shared this snap of her sunbathing by a pool. It’s definitely not giving us ‘January in London vibes’…

The crew are no strangers to filming Mission Impossible in the UAE. In 2011, key scenes of ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’ were shot in Dubai, including those gripping scenes on the Burj Khalifa, performed by Tom Cruise himself. The team returned to the UAE for a brief scene in ‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’.

Images: Instagram