JEDDAH: Shot in Saudi Arabia, director Rupert Wyatt’s “Desert Warrior” is coming home after making its global premiere at the Zurich Film Festival in September, followed by its Middle East debut at the Red Sea International Film Festival this week.

The action-thriller, set in seventh-century Arabia and filmed across NEOM and Tabuk, marks a major milestone for MBC Studios. It was produced in partnership with US-based JB Pictures and AGC Studios. MBC Studios describes the film as the most expensive and lavish feature ever made in Saudi Arabia, and the first major tent-pole title shot at NEOM, with the budget reported to be $150 million.

Led by an international ensemble cast including Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Sharlto Copley, Ghassan Massoud, Geza Rohrig, Sami Bouajila, Lamis Ammar and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, the film blends historical drama, large-scale action and a narrative centered on one of the Arab world’s most compelling early heroines.

The film is directed by British filmmaker Wyatt, known for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Mosquito Coast,” with a screenplay co-written by Wyatt, Erica Beeney, David Self and Oscar nominee Gary Ross. JB Pictures’ Jeremy Bolt serves as producer.

Set against the tribal conflicts of seventh-century Arabia and the growing force of the Sassanid Empire, “Desert Warrior” follows Princess Hind bint Al-Nu‘man (Hart), who refuses to submit to Emperor Kisra (Kingsley). Fleeing with her father King Numan (Massoud), she must rely on a mysterious desert bandit (Mackie) as they evade mercenaries led by the ruthless Jalabzeen (Copley).

The story builds toward the legendary Battle of Dhi Qar, a pivotal pre-Islamic confrontation remembered throughout Arab history, and positions Princess Hind as a unifying hero who rallies fractured tribes to defend their homeland.

“This story is historically huge,” Wyatt told Arab News during a press junket at the RSIFF, explaining that his entry point was Princess Hind herself. “I think like anything it’s always the most human story, isn’t it? So, it’s the story of Aiysha and Princess Hind. And just the idea of being able to tell a story that starts incredibly small and very intimate about this young woman hunted in the desert, and then how gradually it fills with every action that she takes and the people around her take and how it grows.”

The director said this emotional center guided the arc from desert fugitive to military leader. “My aim was to start with one person in the desert, the bandit finding this young woman and her father, and then from there building, ultimately, to the mountains.”

Wyatt said the team strove for historical accuracy while still ensuring the story remained visually compelling.

“I think like any movie, you have to take a little bit of license. You have to tell the story, but you also have to be faithful to reality, of course,” he told Arab News. “I mean, in the seventh century horses didn’t have saddles and stirrups, you know … but how do you film something like that? It’s not possible.”

He added that certain details such as belts and costume fastenings had to be adjusted for practical reasons. “The historical accuracy is always something that has to be clear but invisible.”

On technology, he said: “We did use CGI in certain areas. Of course, our elephants are CGI and the hyenas are CGI. But in terms of, like, artificial intelligence manipulating things, no.”

For South African actor Copley, who plays Jalabzeen, Kisra’s loyal and relentless mercenary determined to capture Hind by any means, the film offered a rare chance to inhabit a part of the world and an era seldom depicted on screen.

“I was excited to play a character that was from a part of the world in a time of the world that I had never seen on camera before,” Copley told Arab News. “That was unique and it’s hard to find unique projects to be honest in this day and age.

“I’d always been nervous of horse riding,” he admitted. “I almost didn’t take the movie … I knew a movie was going to come where you’re just going to say you’re going to have to ride a horse.”

“The very first description … was like, scene appears riding the biggest war horse … leading a charge … and I just read it I was like, oh God, here’s that movie. It’s here.”

After long conversations with a director friend who encouraged him to take the leap, Copley embraced the challenge and fell in love with it.

“At the end of the day … they let us ride our horses back to the stables,” he said. “We would just ride … as the sun was setting. Some of the best memories of my life.”

For British Saudi actor Hart, portraying Princess Hind, a figure celebrated in Arab history, was a transformative opportunity.

“It’s just such an honor to play a character like this,” she told Arab News. “I didn’t actually know about the history, so for me it was a revelation.”

She added: “To know that that’s what a woman did in the seventh century, she united the Arab tribes and faced down the Byzantine Empire and the strongest empire of the time, is no small feat even by modern standards.”

Like Copley, Hart’s preparation involved intensive physical training.

“She — Princess Hind — grew up on a horse,” Hart said. “I hadn’t ridden a horse since I was maybe 10 … I got thrown off a couple of times, so I stopped riding.”

Determined to honor the character, she trained daily in Saudi Arabia: “An hour of stunt training, two hours of horse riding, then stunt sword fighting. It is a really physical role.”

Hart said she connected deeply with Hind’s spirit.

“In terms of where Hind resonates with me, I think she has a passion and a fire that I also have,” she said. “I think she’s a bit more courageous than I am and I hope I took some of that courage from her.”

She added: “I just feel really honored to play the role … I feel very lucky to have taken that role and to have been able to offer it to the world.”

With its international cast, sweeping desert landscapes and dramatic portrayal of a defining moment in regional history, “Desert Warrior” represents a new ambition in Saudi filmmaking, both in scale and global reach.

Shot over four and a half months in NEOM and Tabuk, the film showcases the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding production infrastructure and highlights an Arab woman’s leadership in a pivotal historical moment.

As Princess Hind unites the tribes and rides toward the Battle of Dhi Qar, “Desert Warrior” positions itself not only as a cinematic epic, but also a celebration of identity, resistance and unity.