'Mission Impossible 7' director Christopher McQuarrie shares tribute to Abu Dhabi as filming wraps in UAE

The filmmaker penned a poetic message to the 'magic and majesty' of the capital as production moved to the UK

Tom Cruise, left, and Christopher McQuarrie, pictured in 2018, this week finished filming scenes for 'Mission Impossible 7' in the UAE. EPA

His talent behind the camera is well documented, but Christopher McQuarrie showed his knack for more poetic endeavours as he thanked Abu Dhabi for hosting his latest film.

The director paid tribute to the UAE capital on Sunday as local production on Mission: Impossible 7 wrapped this weekend.

McQuarrie thanked the Abu Dhabi government, as well as a number of companies, including Abu Dhabi Film Commission, twofour54, Etihad Airways, as he departed for the UK to continue filming the action blockbuster.

Sharing a quote by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the filmmaker praised the UAE's landscape as well as its hospitality.

"What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well," McQuarrie wrote on Instagram alongside a behind-the-camera shot during filming in the emirate's dunes.

"Grace and graciousness, magic and majesty, hospitality and hope. Of the many challenges we’ve faced on our journey, none will be greater than outshining the gifts Abu Dhabi has given us.

"Thanks to our extraordinary local cast, crew and the very fine people of Abu Dhabi. We shall most sincerely miss you until we see you again."

Filming on the seventh chapter in the Mission: Impossible franchise wrapped up in the UAE capital at the weekend, with cast and crew since returning to the UK.

"Now back to London for a few finishing touches. All aboard for our greatest challenge yet ..." McQuarrie added.

UK tabloid reports last week suggested the Abu Dhabi shoot had been abandoned after crew members demanded to be returned home before new quarantine rules came into place in the UK on Monday. However, sources confirmed to The National filming was not intended to run past February 13.

"The shoot was always scheduled to finish this weekend. The only difference with the new UK quarantine rules was that we couldn't overrun, which we never wanted to anyway," one source close to the shoot, who asked to remain unnamed, told The National this week.

Little is currently known about the film's UAE shoot, although the franchise has previously visited the Emirates on two occasions. In 2011, Cruise single-handedly scaled Dubai's Burj Khalifa, while his last visit to Abu Dhabi saw him leaping from a plane at 7,600 metres.

Mission: Impossible 7 is currently scheduled to be released in November 2021.