Anthony Mackie has fronted some incredibly popular movies and TV shows, including his recent return as Captain America in Brave New World and on Peacock in Twisted Metal. However, his action movie, shot in 2021, has been one of the most troubled and lengthy productions he has been involved in and is only now getting its world premiere.
Desert Warrior is a movie that has a lot to prove as, despite its British director and a cast including Mackie and Ben Kingsley, the film is actually one of the biggest movies produced by Saudi Arabia’s MBC Studios and comes with a hefty $150 million budget attached to it. The movie was hailed as a huge step forward for the Saudi film industry, but the film’s journey to the screen has been littered with chaos and delays, from the loss and reinstatement of director Rupert Wyatt, to reported infighting, and many rounds of reshoots all hindering its progress.
After finally completing filming early this year, Desert Warrior will finally make its debut at the Zurich Film Festival on September 28.
What is ‘Desert Warrior’ About?
Pitched as a historical epic set in pre-Islamic Arabia, Desert Warrior is a movie focused on Hind, played by Aiysha Hart, an Arabian princess who rejects the advances of the ruthless Emperor Kisra (Kingsley) and escapes into the desert where she joins forces with Mackie’s Bandit. Together, the pair attempt to unite rival tribes in order to take on the might of Kisra’s army.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the movie has been its epic scale, which reportedly started off big and just continued to grow until it was so out of control. Wyatt was then reportedly sacked from the movie for allowing his budget to go so wild and being unable to control the production. However, the director was eventually brought back to finish the job he started, and it is finally almost time to see whether numerous production issues have hindered the film’s final product or if it can be the epic blockbuster the Saudi Film Commission are hoping for. Back in December, producer Stuart Ford shared his excitement about getting the production moving again after several issues.
“Rupert re-boarded the film in the early fall, and it will be finished during the first quarter of next year. I’d like to think I was instrumental in helping them get to that decision, because they were definitely at something of a crossroads six, seven months ago. I am genuinely excited about seeing his [Wyatt’s] cut in two weeks in New York City. I think giving him the opportunity to finish what he started was absolutely the right thing for MBC to do.”
Of course, despite being a Saudi Arabian production, on the surface, the film has the star power of Mackie and Kingsley. Both actors have been incredibly successful in their careers, not least for prominent roles in the MCU. Mackie took over the title of Captain America after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and appeared at the beginning of this year in Captain America: Brave New World. Meanwhile, Kingsley is set to reprise his controversial role as Trevor Slattery in the Disney+ series, Wonder Man. While there has been no release window announced for the wider release of Desert Warrior, that will likely follow after a handful of festival appearances in the coming month.
