It’s taken a while, but “Desert Warrior,” the $150M Saudi-backed epic, is finally set to screen.
The film, starring Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, and Ben Kingsley—who were probably offered royal paychecks—will hold its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival on September 28, nearly four years since its behind-the-scenes chaos began.
Rupert Wyatt’s historical spectacle has been dogged by creative headaches, desert heat, and more than a few existential questions about who exactly should be telling this story. I’m actually surprised Wyatt has decided to keep his director’s credit on this film.
The project is primarily backed by Saudi money, marking it as one of the kingdom’s most ambitious cinematic projects to date. It’s considered Saudi Arabia’s first major Hollywood-style tentpole film. The production, shot in 2021, was originally budgeted at around $70M, but it nearly doubled due to an assortment of issues.
Deadline’s deep dive last October tackled the chaos: Wyatt walked off over disputes with tone, pacing, and running time; screen tests revealed a disconnect with audiences; and U.S. studios reportedly squirmed at the idea of a Western creative team tackling a pre-Islamic Middle Eastern epic. Wyatt, known for directing “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” left the project in April 2023. Editor Kelley Dixon, known for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” was brought in to re-cut the film, adding dialogue and reshaping Wyatt’s original vision.
“Desert Warrior” tells the tale of Arabian Princess Hind (Hart) refusing to become the concubine of the tyrannical Emperor Kisra (Kingsley). Escaping into the punishing desert, she enlists the mysterious Bandit (Mackie) to rally fractured tribes against Kisra’s massive army. The climactic battle has been compared to the Pelennor Fields siege in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”—a comparison that raises eyebrows, but hey, marketing loves a bold claim.
After years of creative turbulence, “Desert Warrior” is finally ready, whatever that means, but it still doesn’t have U.S. distribution.