Hollywood, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Film Industry, Box Office, Flop, Oscar

Saudi Arabia dreamed big with Desert Warrior. The result was a nightmare. The film was announced in November 2021 by MBC Studios, the production arm of Saudi media giant MBC Group. The vision was ambitious, a sweeping historical epic set in seventh-century Arabia, telling the story of Princess Hind’s battle against Emperor Kisra.

To sell that vision to global audiences, the makers brought in real Hollywood firepower. Anthony Mackie, Marvel’s Captain America, took the lead role. Oscar winner Ben Kingsley signed on as the villain. Director Rupert Wyatt, who made Rise of the Planet of the Apes, helmed the project. 

With 400 to 500 people on set every day and a production that stretched across years, the budget climbed to $150 million, roughly Rs 1,400 crore.

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What Happened At The Box Office

The film quietly released at the Zurich Film Festival in 2025 before getting a wider international release in April 2026 and that is where things fell apart.

In North America, the film opened across 1,010 theatres and took home just $472,000. In Saudi Arabia, its home country and its most natural audience, it ranked eighth on opening weekend with $87,000. The rest of the Middle East added under $140,000.

By the time theatres pulled the film, its total worldwide earnings stood at around $665,000, roughly Rs 6 crore. That is less than 0.4 percent of what it cost to make. No film in history has lost a higher percentage of its budget. The 99.6 percent loss puts it in a category entirely of its own.

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Why Nobody Showed Up

The film spent over two years in post-production, and during that time, the excitement around it simply faded. There was little to no marketing push in Western markets, Anthony Mackie, whose name could have drawn audiences, was largely absent from any promotional activity.

When the film did release, critics mostly ignored it. Only 18 reviews appear on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 28 percent approval rating.

Dessert Warrior is a lesson in how even the biggest budgets and biggest names cannot save a film that loses its audience before it even reaches them.