Big budget does not always mean big success. Sometimes, it can create a historic disaster.
Saudi Arabia’s ambitious film Desert Warrior is now being discussed as one of the biggest box office bombs in world cinema.
Made on a massive budget of around Rs 1400 crore, the film reportedly earned just around Rs 6 crore worldwide.
The film was planned as a grand attempt to put Saudi cinema on the global map. It had Hollywood names, international technicians, huge sets and a large-scale production setup.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt of Rise of the Planet of the Apes fame, Desert Warrior starred Anthony Mackie, Ben Kingsley, Sharlto Copley and Aiysha Hart.
The story was set in seventh-century Arabia and revolved around Princess Hind’s battle against Emperor Kisra.
The makers reportedly spent heavily on production, cast salaries and training hundreds of local workers. Nearly 400 to 500 people were said to be present on the sets every day.
But all the grandeur failed to bring audiences to theatres.
The film opened poorly in North America, collecting just about $472,000 from over 1,000 theatres.
Even in Saudi Arabia, its home market, the response was shocking. It reportedly opened at eighth place and earned only around $87,000 in its first weekend.
Within two weeks, the film almost vanished from theatres. Its worldwide total stood at just about $665,000, roughly Rs 6 crore.
That means Desert Warrior recovered less than 0.4 percent of its cost. The loss is being described as one of the worst ever for a feature film.
The reasons are clear: weak marketing, poor buzz and negative word of mouth.
The film spent too long in post-production and lost the initial hype. Even its Hollywood stars did not create enough noise before release.
In the end, Desert Warrior proved that a huge budget and global cast cannot save a film if the audience is not interested.
What was planned as a mega launchpad for Saudi cinema has turned into a historic box office embarrassment.
