You probably haven’t seen the new action film Desert Warrior, and chances are you won’t hear much about it either.

The historical drama has epically failed to attract cinemagoers in the US, clocking up just $US596k domestically ($827,000) after its opening weekend despite a filming budget of $US150 million ($208 million).

The film, which has since been billed by industry insiders as one of the biggest box-office flops in history, screened on 1,010 cinemas across North America, on average earning a minuscule $US467 ($647) per cinema.

With its massive $US150 million budget, the film (released in the US on April 26) was able to sign big-name stars such as Captain America’s Anthony Mackie and Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, with Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rupert Wyatt calling the shots in the director’s seat.

Desert Warrior – described as a modern day answer to Lawrence of Arabia – is set in seventh-century Arabia and follows Princess Hind (Aiysha Hart), who defies the ruthless Emperor Kisra (Kingsley) rather than becoming his concubine.

The princess flees into the desert to team up with a bandit named Hanzala (Mackie), who makes himself an enemy of the emperor for helping her and a fugitive king attempt to topple his empire.

Box-office flop aside, the action film experienced a series of setbacks and took five whole years to get on screens.

According to Deadline, “budget bloat” and “creative differences” with Wyatt caused the director to initially leave the project, later returning. And the film sat in post-production limbo for years, with even crew members “left wondering if it would never get a theatrical release”.

There were also high hopes for the Saudi Arabian-backed film as it was one of the first big releases under the country’s trillion-dollar Public Investment Fund (PIF) to focus on entertainment and sports in the region in an attempt to diversify their economy.

However, the movie also flopped in its home country where it was released in tandem with the US.

Deadline reports that Desert Warrior grossed just $US87,000 ($120,000) from 6,100 screenings in Saudi Arabia over its opening weekend.

Insiders close to the film believed that its release was not well timed given the war raging in the Middle East.

“Cinemagoers don’t have the appetite for a film about a desert war in the middle of a literal desert war,” the outlet reported.

The insider added that the studio considered delaying Desert Warrior’s release after Donald Trump bombed Iran, but they were reluctant to undergo any more delays after an agonising five years.

Many critics have taken to social media perplexed as to where the $US150 million was spent because it sure wasn’t spent on marketing.

“I’ve literally never even heard of this – what on earth did they spend that $150 million on?” one tweeted on X, as another agreed, “Horrible marketing cuz I’ve never even heard of this movie.”

“Nobody even knew about this movie. This is my first time seeing it,” one added, as another commented, “This is my first time hearing about this movie, that’s probably why I haven’t seen any promotion for it.”

However, there were some positive voices in the mix.

“I watched the trailer no lie that mf actually looks like it could be aight lol,” one shared as another wrote, “It’s good. Watch it.”