Made for ₹1400 crore, earned ₹6 crore; world's biggest box office bomb featured MCU star, Oscar winner; yet saw 99% loss

IN the eld of shrinkage borders in the picture show business concern, shoot industries around the world are pushing the envelope with bigger, grander productions. Indian cinema is attempting to conquer the world, for instance, with Varanasi and Ramayana, the two most expensive Indian films ever made. Korean films are going bigger and grander in a similar vein, while China recently delivered its first billion-dollar blockbuster, Ne Zha 2. Recently, Saudi Arabia attempted the same, mounting a big film on a massive scale, featuring big Hollywood stars. But the end result was dismal as it all came crashing down at the box office, culminating in the biggest box-office bomb in history.The world’s biggest box office bombIn November 2021, Saudi media conglomerate MBC Group’s film production company, MBC Studios, announced Desert Warrior, a grand film aimed to revitalise the Saudi film industry. The film was co-produced by JB Pictures, AGC Studios, and Studio Mechanical, and directed by Rupert Wyatt, best known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Set in seventh-century Arabia, the film’s story centres on Princess Hind's fight against Emperor Kisra, aided by the legendary fighter Hanzala. The film starred Marvel’s new Captain America, Anthony Mackie, as Hanzala, along with Oscar winner Ben Kingsley as Emperor Hanzala. South African actor Sharlto Copley, known for his roles in District 9 and Oldboy, was part of the support cast, while British-Saudi star Aiysha Hart played Princess Hind.The film brought in an international crew to Saudi Arabia to train locals, resulting in 400-500 people on set every day. This, coupled with cast salaries and a long production, led to the film’s budget ballooning to $150 million ( ₹1400 crore). The film was in post-production for over 2 years before its release at the Zurich Film Festival in 2025. It received international release in April 2026 and was a colossal failure. The film failed to get an opening, not just in the United States, but even in Saudi Arabia. In North America, it earned just $472K from 1010 theatres, making it one of the worst openings for a major film. In Saudi Arabia, the film ranked a dismal eighth in its opening weekend, bringing in just $87K. It added under $140K from the rest of the Middle East. After a lacklustre performance over its opening two weeks, it shut its shop, earning just $665k (around ₹6 crore) worldwide, less than 0.4% of its production cost. The resulting loss of 99.6% is the highest for any feature film ever made.What made Desert Warrior bombDesert Warrior suffered from a combination of weak marketing and bad word of mouth, which spelt disaster for the film. Due to the long time it spent in post-production, the film lost the buzz it had generated with its announcement and filming. There was hardly any promotion in the West, with Anthony Mackie giving it a miss. Upon release, the film failed to even get enough attention to be reviewed. Rotten Tomatoes lists only 18 reviews for the film, and has a dismal 28% approval rating. This meant that after the low buzz, the film fell further.