The world’s biggest flop lost 99.6% of its production budget, failing to even enter the top 5 at the box office in its opening weekend.
Anthony Mackie and Aiysha Hart in a still from Desert Warrior.
The world’s biggest box office bomb
In November 2021, Saudi media conglomerate MBC Group’s film production company, MBC Studios, announced Desert Warrior, a grand film aimed to revitalise the Saudi film industry. The film was co-produced by JB Pictures, AGC Studios, and Studio Mechanical, and directed by Rupert Wyatt, best known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Set in seventh-century Arabia, the film’s story centres on Princess Hind’s fight against Emperor Kisra, aided by the legendary fighter Hanzala. The film starred Marvel’s new Captain America, Anthony Mackie, as Hanzala, along with Oscar winner Ben Kingsley as Emperor Hanzala. South African actor Sharlto Copley, known for his roles in District 9 and Oldboy, was part of the support cast, while British-Saudi star Aiysha Hart played Princess Hind.
The film brought in an international crew to Saudi Arabia to train locals, resulting in 400-500 people on set every day. This, coupled with cast salaries and a long production, led to the film’s budget ballooning to $150 million ( ₹1400 crore). The film was in post-production for over 2 years before its release at the Zurich Film Festival in 2025. It received international release in April 2026 and was a colossal failure.
What made Desert Warrior bomb
Desert Warrior suffered from a combination of weak marketing and bad word of mouth, which spelt disaster for the film. Due to the long time it spent in post-production, the film lost the buzz it had generated with its announcement and filming. There was hardly any promotion in the West, with Anthony Mackie giving it a miss. Upon release, the film failed to even get enough attention to be reviewed. Rotten Tomatoes lists only 18 reviews for the film, and has a dismal 28% approval rating. This meant that after the low buzz, the film fell further.
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More
