How Hollywood actors Anthony Mackie, Ben Kingsley’s Saudi film lost 99.6% of its budget and became the biggest flop ever? Guess the movie name

Big-budget films failing at the box office is nothing new, but every once in a while, a movie crashes so badly that it shocks the entire film industry. Over the last few years, countries across the world have been trying to make bigger and more ambitious films to compete on the global stage. From India mounting large-scale epics to China delivering billion-dollar blockbusters, the cinema industries are thinking beyond borders. Saudi Arabia also attempted something similar with a massive historical action film starring major Hollywood actors. However, despite the scale, star power and huge investment, the film ended up becoming one of the biggest financial disasters in cinema history.

The movie in question is Desert Warrior.

Touted as one of Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious film projects, Desert Warrior was announced in 2021 by MBC Studios, the production arm of Saudi media giant MBC Group. The film was reportedly designed to help strengthen and expand Saudi Arabia’s growing entertainment and film industry on the global stage.


The historical action drama featured a star-studded cast led by Anthony Mackie, Ben Kingsley, Sharlto Copley and Aiysha Hart. Directed by Rupert Wyatt, best known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the film was set in seventh-century Arabia.

All you need to know about biggest box office bomb Desert Warrior

The story revolved around Princess Hind, played by Aiysha Hart, who rises against Emperor Kisra with the help of a legendary warrior named Hanzala, portrayed by Anthony Mackie. Ben Kingsley appeared as the powerful emperor, while the supporting cast included several international actors.

To achieve its grand scale, the production reportedly brought in a large international crew to Saudi Arabia while also training local talent during filming. According to Deadline report, nearly 400 to 500 people worked on set daily. Combined with the film’s long shooting schedule, elaborate action sequences, visual effects and high actor salaries, the production budget reportedly ballooned to nearly $150 million, which is approximately Rs 1400 crore.

However, the film’s road to release was far from smooth. After filming wrapped up, Desert Warrior reportedly spent more than two years in post-production before finally premiering at the Zurich Film Festival in 2025. It later received an international theatrical release in April 2026.

Despite all the anticipation surrounding the project, the film struggled badly at the box office from its opening weekend itself. In North America, the movie earned less than $500,000 despite releasing in over 1,000 theatres. It also failed to perform well in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern markets.



According to reports, the film eventually earned only around $665,000 globally, which roughly translates to Rs 6 crore. Considering its massive production cost, the film reportedly lost nearly 99.6% of its budget, making it one of the biggest box office bombs ever recorded.

Several factors are believed to have contributed to the film’s disastrous performance. Industry reports suggested that weak marketing, low audience awareness and poor word of mouth severely affected the film’s reach. The long delay between its announcement and release also reportedly reduced audience excitement over time.

Reports further claimed that the film received limited critical attention after release. Review aggregation platform Rotten Tomatoes reportedly listed very few reviews for the movie, while audience response remained largely negative.

While Desert Warrior aimed to showcase Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in global cinema, the film ultimately became an example of how even massive budgets and famous Hollywood actors cannot guarantee box office success. Stay tuned!