Explore the latest developments concerning ‘Desert Warrior': Why.
‘Desert Warrior': Why Anthony Mackie Saudi Epic Flopped At Box Office
If Desert Warrior was one of Saudi Arabia’s big cinema swings, then it looks to have been a swing and a miss, based on the movie’s early box office takings. Starring Captain America’s Anthony Mackie and Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, Desert Warrior endured a troubled five-year trek to the screen, but finally debuted in theaters last weekend across the U.S. and Middle East.
Set up at Riyadh media giant MBC Group and acquired by Vertical, the movie has suffered bruising headlines based on its performance in the U.S., where it had grossed $596,000 on 1,010 screens as of Thursday, and been billed as one of the biggest box office flops in history.
‘There’s No Audience for This Movie After the Israel-Hamas War’
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As originally envisioned, the historical action epic Desert Warrior would be a film of groundbreaking firsts. It would be the first Hollywood-style tentpole movie shot entirely on location in Saudi Arabia under its de facto supreme ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, a.k.a. the culture-washing governmental push intended to liberate Saudi society from its “addiction” to oil through soft-power alternatives like tourism and entertainment. Directed by Rise of the Planet of the Apes filmmaker Rupert Wyatt and starring Marvel Cinematic Universe stalwart Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War), Desert Warrior would also be the inaugural movie project to shoot at Neom Media, a state-of-the-art, multibazillion-dollar media complex and studio backlot attached to Neom City, a metropolis bordering the Red Sea.
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Cut the Check: Anthony Mackie Saudi Arabia Movie Bombs Super Hard
I’m a WWE fan, so I’ve seen my fair share of advertisements for Saudi Arabia. The country’s government has been in league with the WWE for a long time and will even host Wrestlemania next year. I’m also someone who was very much aware of the Riyadh Comedy Festival, and genuinely hope for a documentary about it and how comedians reacted to being called out for it at some point (even though I know it will turn into a two-hour interview with Bill Burr). All this is to say that I thought the Saudi Arabian government had more pull in the entertainment scene. I was wrong!
For more detailed information, explore updates concerning ‘Desert Warrior': Why.
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