Tom Cruise has returned to Dubai. And yes, he’s currently filming Mission Impossible 7 and 8 in the UAE.
The Mission Impossible star and Oscar nominee, who has become synonymous with the city after his iconic Burj Khalifa action sequence in Ghost Protocol (2011), spent Friday with his friend Ahmad Al Shaikh, the Managing Director of Dubai Media Incorporated.
Shaikh, in an Instagram post, confirmed that Cruise is in the UAE filming, though declined to say which project. Cruise’s collaborators, however, have confirmed that they are filming Mission Impossible 7 and 8 in Abu Dhabi.
“I was very happy to welcome and host my good friend Tom Cruise in Dubai this afternoon. The global star is on a working visit to the UAE, as he’s shooting one of his future projects in Abu Dhabi. Our friendship spans for more than 10 years, and I’m honoured that we get to catch up every now and then whenever he is off camera, whether it’s in Dubai or elsewhere,” said Al Shaikh.
Al Shaikh posted photos of he and Cruise sitting in a Dubai Majlis both alone and with a larger group, as well as videos of he and Cruise, donned in masks and keeping social distance, walking across grass and greeting newlyweds to congratulate them on their wedding.
Photos from the same day have also surfaced on social media of Cruise apparently receiving a large painting of his face as a gift, as well as posing with staff in the private residence wearing a pair dusty black boots, dark jeans, and a navy sweater, with aviator sunglasses resting on the Top Gun star’s collar.
Video also surfaced of cruise arriving on helicopter, pumping his fists in excitement.
While Cruise has yet to state that he is here to film the latest sequels to the franchise and the studio hasn’t publicly announced production, his collaborators have.
Simon Pegg, who has co-starred opposite Cruise in the series since 2006’s Mission Impossible III, has been posting a flurry of Instagram stories from Abu Dhabi saying that he is back on set, including stickers of Cruise and the Mission Impossible logo to voice his excitement.
The director of the two sequels Christopher McQuarrie also tagged #MI7MI8 in an Instagram post along with a photo in the Abu Dhabi desert.
Actors who worked with Tom Cruise on set in Abu Dhabi said that the experience was “life-changing”.
Esquire now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit ‘Like’ on our Esquire Facebook page and ‘Follow’ on our @esquiremiddleeast Instagram and Twitter account.
