This epic $150 million film is already the worst flop of 2026
A historic blockbuster financed by a studio controlled by Saudi Arabia, this epic fresco carried by Anthony Mackie and Ben Kingsley is already a historic industrial disaster.
Supposed to launch an immense Hollywood historical fresco with the scent of Braveheart, Desert Warrior could finally go down in history… as one of the biggest flops of all time.
Worn by Marvel star Anthony Mackie as a desert warrior and by Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley as a bloodthirsty Arab Emperor, this blockbuster set in 7th century Arabia has only collected… $742,000 at the worldwide box office since its American release on April 24. A catastrophic figure for a production estimated at… 150 million dollars!
According to Box Office Mojo, the film only grossed $704,000 in the United States and barely $37,000 internationally (it was not released in France). In other words: the film has not yet reached even 1% of its colossal budget, financed largely by MBC Studios, a company controlled by the Saudi group MBC, itself closely linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. An order from the Gulf, in short, which paid Hollywood to film this page of its history.
The story, in fact, follows Princess Hind (Aiysha Hart) who refuses to become the concubine of Emperor Kisra (Ben Kingsley) and joins forces with the famous bandit Hanzala (Anthony Mackie) to raise an army against the Persian Empire. Also called Khosro II, the Iranian sovereign effectively reigned from 590 to 628 over a large part of the region and faced numerous rebellions from local tribes, determined not to allow themselves to be dominated.
The filming of Desert Warrior was completed in 2022, but it took more than four years to see the film released in theaters. At issue: chaotic post-production and significant creative conflicts between director Rupert Wyatt – a British filmmaker to whom we owe in particular Planet of the Apes: Origins – and the studio.
According to Deadline, MBC wanted to transform the film into a more accessible war spectacle, in the spirit of Braveheartwhile Wyatt defended a more auteurist and nuanced approach. The director even reportedly left the project temporarily before returning to finish editing. After disastrous test screenings in 2023, the film was completely re-edited. But several major Hollywood studios – including Sony Pictures and Apple TV+ – reportedly refused to distribute it, some deeming the geopolitical context far too sensitive after tensions in the Middle East and then the war in Iran.
Result : Desert Warrior was finally released quietly via independent distributor Vertical Entertainment. In barely 1,000 American theaters for its launch. And without promotion.
The film also has a very low score of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes – and still has no French release date.
Now there remains one question: Desert Warrior will it officially become the biggest financial disaster in cinema history? Technically, other films like The Marvels lost more money in net worth ($206.1 million at the box office for the Marvel film, far from the estimated break-even point of $440 million). But compared to its colossal budget and its microscopic revenues, Rupert Wyatt’s film is already an almost unique case in Hollywood.
