‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’: New Video Teases “The Biggest Set”!! Check It Out!!

Director Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise have attempted some of the most challenging set pieces in the history of the Mission: Impossible franchise together. They’ve harnessed Cruise on the side of an airborne plane; they’ve handed him the controls of a chopper; and in the upcoming Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, they’ll make him drive a motorbike off a cliff. While this sequence has been teased in virtually every piece of marketing, Cruise and McQuarrie filmed another major action scene for the movie, at “the biggest set” they’d ever worked on.

A new behind-the-scenes video shared by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission reveals glimpses of the two large-scale action scenes that the Mission: Impossible crew filmed on location in the United Arab Emirates. While the first appears to be one of those classic Mission: Impossible scenes in which Cruise’s Ethan Hunt must evade authorities in a public location, the second looks like something that the franchise has never attempted before. Because they had such an excellent experience working with local crews and authorities in Abu Dhabi, McQuarrie says in the video, they decided to utilize the gorgeous sand dunes and a “big salt flat” nearby to film a chase sequence which has Cruise riding a horse in the desert.

But first, McQuarrie spoke about constructing a scene set inside (and on the roof of) the state-of-the-art Abu Dhabi airport. The video shows Cruise walking along the terminal building, in character as Ethan, apparently maintaining a low profile. Hayley Atwell’s character also appears in some shots, looking equally cautious. But after his cover is seemingly blown, Ethan escapes onto the terminal’s roof, which McQuarrie describes in the video as resembling “giant steel sand dunes.” This is where he’ll apparently unleash that iconic sprint for our entertainment and amazement.

Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise Always Dreamed of a Desert Sequence

“We wanted to make a bigger film, a more global film. Etihad and Abu Dhabi Airport provided us with this airport, and gave us an opportunity to shoot a sequence in a way that one had never been done. It was an extraordinary, beautiful location. It’s epic in scale. Once we decided we were going to shoot the airport sequence in Abu Dhabi, we decided to shoot a desert sequence as well. The desert sequence is something Tom and I have always dreamed about. The location just told us what to do. These things that we’re doing, while they seem to flow rather effortlessly, are actually very complicated and involve a lot of skill on Tom’s part. It really was the biggest set we’d ever worked on.”

Dead Reckoning Part One is McQuarrie and Cruise’s third M:I film together, following Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible — Fallout. They’ll reunite for next year’s Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two. Joining Cruise in the cast for both these movies are Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Pom Klementieff and Esai Morales. Dead Reckoning Part One is due out on July 12, while Dead Reckoning Part Two will debut on June 28, 2024. You can watch the new featurette here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.