It’s an epic movie with a huge $150 million budget and stars Captain America himself, Anthony Mackie alongside Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, but you’d be forgiven for having no idea it even exists, let alone looks set to become one of the biggest box office flops of all time.
Desert Warrior, backed and funded by Saudi Arabia as a sort of modern day answer to Lawrence of Arabia, opened in 1,010 North American theaters this weekend to a debut of just $472,111. That makes for a Per-Theater Average (PTA) of an astonishingly low $467. It’s the worst domestic opening for a major film this year and one of the worst in history — not the return you’d expect from the latest blockbuster directed by Rupert Wyatt, who reinvigorated 20th Century’s Planet of the Apes franchise.
Here’s the official blurb:
Set in seventh-century Arabia, Princess Hind (Aiysha Hart) defies her fate, refusing to become a concubine to the ruthless Emperor Kisra (Kingsley). Fleeing into the desert with her father, she is hunted by a merciless army and forced to trust a legendary bandit (Mackie) with secrets of his own. Rising from fugitive to fearless warrior, Hind unites warring tribes for a final stand — the Battle of Dhi Qar, a clash that will change history forever.
From a Saudi point of view, the intent with Desert Warrior is clear: kickstart Saudi Arabia’s expensively funded film industry and show off the country in a positive light to a western audience. But Desert Warrior was met with scathing reviews from critics and barely a whiff of interest from cinemagoers. Desert Warrior has a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and an IMDb rating of just 2.1/10. The Hollywood Reporter reviewer Frank Scheck called it “an elaborate slog of a Saudi epic,” while The New York Times’ Glenn Kenny praised its production value, saying “there are horses and camels running around, elaborate costumes and sets, and an expansive cast from Europe, Africa, the United States and the Middle East.”
The question is, will we continue to see expensive films aimed at the west come out of Saudi Arabia, now Desert Warrior has flopped so hard? According to The Daily Telegraph, Desert Warrior was funded by MBC studios, an offshoot of Saudi’s biggest broadcaster, MBC, whose majority shareholder is the nation’s ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Crown Prince “is said to be a film buff who wants to take on Hollywood at its own game,” the Telegraph reported, so perhaps he’ll stick with the plan for now.
Maybe Desert Warrior’s fate was sealed before it even came out. It reportedly suffered a brutally difficult production, was pulled this way and that by the various stakeholders involved, and none of its stars promoted the film ahead of launch. Perhaps Anthony Mackie was too busy with Avengers: Doomsday?
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
