Even amongst probably the most informal film followers, it might in all probability be straightforward sufficient to have a dialog about notorious field workplace bombs. Folks would probably cite stuff like the field workplace flop “Tron: Ares” or DC’s “The Flash” as comparatively latest, high-profile examples. Nonetheless, there stays debate over what the most important flop in field workplace historical past really is. In my estimation, the most important flop ever occurred very just lately, in 2026. It is simply that nearly no person seen.
The film in query is “Desert Warrior,” which you would be forgiven for not being conversant in. It is a film with a $150 million manufacturing price range, which is an issue in and of itself. Motion pictures this costly require mass consciousness. This one has nearly none. “Desert Warrior” asserted itself as one of many greatest field workplace flops ever when it debuted in North American theaters in April. Now that now we have a bigger sense of the general image, issues have gotten a lot worse.
As of this writing, director Rupert Wyatt’s historic motion epic has made a grand complete of $742,066 worldwide. That is it. That features a launch within the United Arab Emirates, the area this film was initially largely meant to serve, because it was a product of the Saudi movie business. As a substitute, it did not drum up curiosity worldwide and earned lower than $1 million in complete. No different big-budget film in historical past that bought a sturdy theatrical launch comes near that degree of abject failure.
“Desert Warrior” had one of many worst field workplace openings of all time, however there was an opportunity it might discover its viewers abroad. That did not occur, and it has now etched its place into the cinema historical past books, albeit for all of the unsuitable causes.
Desert Warrior is a catastrophe of epic proportions
I ought to point out that I’m not just a few random leisure journalist taking a look at these numbers and making a declarative assertion. I’m a field workplace analyst who has spent an unlimited period of time digging round on this particular space. I had a column right here at /Movie for a very long time, titled “Tales from the Field Workplace,” that examined many, many high-profile flops all through historical past. I say all of this to arrange that once I say “Desert Warrior” is a catastrophe of all-time epic proportions, I’m certified to take action.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), the film facilities on a princess (Aiysha Hart) who flees into the Arabian desert in defiance of a ruthless emperor. Hunted by mercenaries, she is cast right into a warrior and aided by a legendary bandit, finally uniting warring tribes for a final stand that may change historical past. Anthony Mackie (“Captain America: Courageous New World”), Ben Kingsley (“Marvel Man”), and Sharlto Copley (“District 9”) star.
There are quite a few methods to have a look at a bomb/flop. Some argue it must be about what misplaced probably the most cash on paper as far as we are able to inform. “John Carter” is a large field workplace bomb we are able to be taught so much from, but it surely remodeled $280 million worldwide with not less than some post-theatrical upside. Sure, its price range was north of $260 million, but it surely not less than matched that in ticket gross sales.
“Desert Warrior,” then again, barring a windfall from elsewhere on the earth (extremely unlikely), recouped roughly 0.5% of its complete price range in ticket gross sales, with little or no theatrical upside. Discovering one thing that garnered a worse return on funding is troublesome if not unimaginable.
Can any film problem Desert Warrior for the field workplace flop crown?
What the hell went unsuitable right here? As Deadline identified, there was an unlimited inventive conflict behind the scenes, and the film was delayed a number of occasions all through post-production. Past that, the report additionally notes {that a} sizable portion of that $150 million price range (which does not account for advertising prices) created “a filmmaking infrastructure for Saudi Arabia” that may “help filmmaking endeavors sooner or later.”
That is all good and effectively, however on paper, “Desert Warrior” has to eat that value, and it should go down as an all-timer colossal flop because of this. Vertical Leisure distributed the film within the U.S. and paid a a lot smaller payment for these rights. Finally although, the Saudi-backed JB Footage, AGC Studios, Studio Mechanical, and MBC Studios are left holding the bag. And it is a huge f*****g bag.
The query is, can another film actually problem “Desert Warrior” for the crown at this level? I had beforehand argued that “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” was the most important field workplace bomb of all time, taking in simply $7.1 million on a $100 million price range. That may now not be the case. “The thirteenth Warrior” was one other historic epic and a bomb for the ages, pulling in lower than $62 million on a price range as excessive as $160 million. Nonetheless not in the identical ballpark.
Many of the greatest field workplace bombs of all time have been made after 2010, and it is a lengthy, lengthy checklist. “Mortal Engines, “The Lone Ranger,” the checklist goes on, and it is all dangerous. However for my cash, and looking out purely on the numbers, there may be now a definitive reply to the query: what is the greatest field workplace flop in historical past?
“Desert Warrior” is offered now on VOD.
