While the Michael Jackson biopic dominated headlines this past weekend with a record-breaking box-office debut, another wide release attracted the other kind of attention for its disastrous opening. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael grossed nearly $100 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, setting a new record for biopics. It was followed by the holdover hits The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Project Hail Mary, both of which have grossed more than $300 million domestically during their theatrical runs. Debuting outside the top ten, however, was a movie that had been in the making for nearly half a decade. It survived a tumultuous production that saw its budget balloon from $70 million to a reported $150 million, only to deliver one of the worst box-office openings ever for a film of its size.

The movie in question is Desert Warrior, a period epic filmed entirely in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This presented the filmmakers with unexpected logistical challenges, according to a new Vulture report. The movie, directed by Rupert Wyatt, is set in the seventh century and follows the Braveheart-style quest of a legendary bandit. Alongside Anthony Mackie, who stars in the lead role, the movie features Sharlto Copley, Aiysha Hart, and Ben Kingsley. Desert Warrior was designed as a grand showcase to attract filmmakers to Saudi Arabia’s state-of-the-art facilities, alongside the increasingly popular Red Sea International Film Festival. However, the Gerard Butler-led action film Kandahar remains the first major English-language movie to be produced entirely in Saudi Arabia.

Here’s How Much ‘Desert Warrior’ Grossed at the Box Office

Production troubles reportedly caused Wyatt, who re-launched the Planet of the Apes franchise with his critically acclaimed blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes, to briefly exit the production before returning to complete editing. The hardships haven’t paid off, with Desert Warrior opening to poor reviews and dour box-office results last week. It holds a 27% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The movie grossed just $487,000 in its opening weekend, against a reported budget of $150 million. This represents a per-theater average of around $483; this is lower than the PTAs of Jem and the Holograms and Rock the Kasbah, two of the lowest-grossing wide releases of all time. By comparison, the infamous children’s film The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure grossed $443,000 in its first weekend, but it only cost a reported $20 million to produce.

via Collider