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Saudi-backed ‘Desert Warrior’ grosses just $472K on a $150M budget in historic box office disaster
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund walking away from LIV Golf
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is withdrawing billions from LIV Golf at the end of the 2026 season, casting a shadow over the upstart golf league’s future. Greg Palkot reports that the PIF had invested over $5 billion to rival the PGA Tour, attracting top players like Phil Mickelson. With this funding cut, LIV Golf now seeks new global investors to secure its long-term viability.
Well, the good news for Disney is that after the disastrous failure of “Snow White” and “The Marvels,” they finally have some competition for the biggest flop in Hollywood history. And boy oh boy, has an already rough week for Saudi-backed projects gotten much, much worse.
One of the strategies guiding the country’s trillion-dollar Public Investment Fund has been to invest in entertainment and sports properties in order to diversify their economy and future development. The PIF has made heavy financial investments into Formula 1, backed the creation of the Qiddiya City region and associated theme park, and of course, funded LIV Golf. And created major movies.
Until this week, that is.
TOM CRUISE IS REPORTEDLY GOING TO MAKE AN INSANE AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR TOP GUN 3
Amid the ongoing conflict in Iran, the Saudis have signaled that their investment process is shifting. Uncertainties in the Middle East have seemingly led to looking for better return on their money.
That’s meant LIV will have to look for other funding sources or shut down entirely. And after they see the box office results of their first big movie release, those film investments might be shutting down too.
Anthony Mackie attends the “Desert Warrior” green carpet event during the 21st Zurich Film Festival at Corso Green Carpet in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sept. 28, 2025. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
‘Desert Warrior’ could become largest financial disaster in movie history
The failure of “Snow White” and “The Marvels” has been extensively covered. The Rachel Zegler-starring live action remake of the Disney animated classic lost the studio an astonishing $170 million.
“The Marvels” cost an estimated $270 million to make, and millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, more to market. Given that studios only get back half of a film’s theatrical gross, it’s $206 million worldwide total was an unmitigated disaster.
But both of those pale in comparison to the unfolding crisis of “Desert Warrior.”
SON OF ‘SNOW WHITE’ PRODUCER CRITICIZES ‘IMMATURE’ STAR RACHEL ZEGLER FOR HURTING FILM
You likely haven’t heard of “Desert Warrior.” And based on its opening week box office grosses, it’s a near-guarantee you haven’t seen it either.
Anthony Mackie attends the “Desert Warrior” green carpet event during the 21st Zurich Film Festival in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sept. 28, 2025. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
“Desert Warrior” is described as being set in seventh-century Arabia, a desert epic that tangentially evokes “Lawrence of Arabia.” A princess, played by Aiysha Hart, refuses to become a concubine to an elderly, “ruthless” Emperor, played by Ben Kingsley. She runs away into the desert, hunted by an army and forced to ally with a “legendary bandit” played by Anthony Mackie. Yes, Captain America Anthony Mackie. The princess then “unites warring tribes for a final stand,” described as a “clash that will change history forever.”
The film had a production budget of an estimated $150 million, no wonder given the scale and scope of the story and a cast with established stars like Anthony Mackie and Ben Kingsley.
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It’s opening weekend brought in an astonishing $472,111. Not $400 million. Not $40 million. Not $4 million. $472,111. Playing in 1,010 theaters in North America, that corresponds to a per-theater average of $467. Assuming tickets cost an average of $17.50, that’s roughly 26-27 total tickets sold per theater. For an entire day’s worth of showings.
But that’s just North America. Perhaps it’s found better success internationally. Well, bad news there too. Worldwide box office thus far is $517,508. On a $150 million budget, it’s grossed $517,508 in almost a week. Disastrous.
Aiysha Hart attends the “Desert Warrior” screening at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Dec. 6, 2025. (Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)
Some reviewers have praised the film’s production value, but it has just a 29% Rotten Tomatoes critic score and a 2.1/10 rating on iMDb. It’s also impossible for there to be good word of mouth because, well, nobody’s seen it to tell their friends.
Assuming David Ellison and Paramount’s purchase of Warner Bros. Studios is approved by regulators, the PIF will have a significant equity stake in the combined company. Given the results of “Desert Warrior,” that’s probably a better path forward to make inroads in Hollywood.
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Trump threatens to withdraw troops from Italy and Spain | US news
Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain a day after saying he was looking at reducing the number deployed in Germany.
The US president’s threat to Germany came after the country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said America was being “humiliated” by Iran.
Trump has severely criticised Nato allies for not sending their navies to help to open the strait of Hormuz, a crucial commercial shipping corridor.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has spoken out against the US-Israeli war on Iran from the start, and Rome had played a balancing act until late March, when it refused the use of an airbase in Sicily to US planes carrying weapons for Iran.
Asked late on Thursday whether he would consider pulling US troops out of Italy and Spain, Trump told reporters: “Probably … look, why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible.”
Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said he did not understand Trump’s motives for the threat to withdraw US troops from Italy and rejected accusations that Rome had not helped the US, especially in relation to maritime security. Crosetto also alluded to Trump’s accusations that European-linked ships had crossed the strait of Hormuz.
“As is clear to everyone, this never happened,” Crosetto told Ansa. “We have also made ourselves available for a mission to protect shipping. This was greatly appreciated by the American military.”
Crosetto added: “The incredible thing is, they’ve used the strait of Hormuz, while we haven’t.”
There was no immediate official response from Spain, which has denied the US permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory for attacks on Iran and been the most outspoken EU critic of Trump’s war. Last month Trump threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain.
About 13,000 US military personnel are stationed across seven naval bases in Italy.
The US naval air station in Sigonella, Sicily, has been under the spotlight since the start of the conflict in Iran as residents and politicians protested against increased activity at the base, especially after the US navy shared a photo on its Instagram account showing a US military helicopter landing at the Unesco-listed Madonie natural park, close to Palermo, during a training exercise.
Italy refused to allow US military aircraft bound for the Middle East to transit Sigonella in late March because the US had sought authorisation to land only when the aircraft were already en route to Sicily. According to treaties established in the late 1950s, the US navy bases can be used for logistical and training purposes but not as transit hubs for aircraft used to transport weapons for war unless in an emergency situation.
Relations between Rome and Washington were further ruptured after Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, criticised Trump’s broadside against Pope Leo over the pontiff’s condemnation of the war on Iran. Trump in turn accused Meloni of lacking courage for not joining the war and in a subsequent outburst on his Truth Social platform, he shared a link to a story by the Guardian about the Sigonella dispute and wrote: “Italy wasn’t there for us, we won’t be there for them! President DONALD J. TRUMP”.
In Spain, the US military presence centres on two joint-use facilities, the Rota naval station and the Morón airbase, both in Andalusia, which are under Spanish sovereignty and commanded by Spanish officers but receive significant US funding.
Rota is a key hub for the US navy’s sixth fleet, and Morón a strategic staging post for the US air force and marine corps for operations across Europe and Africa. Both are seen as core elements of US power projection in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.
According to the US defence figures, just over 3,800 active-duty US military personnel were stationed in Spain at the end of 2025, but the Spanish government’s refusal to allow the bases to be used has since prompted the relocation of multiple US aircraft.
Sánchez has played down reports that the Pentagon was considering punishing “difficult” Nato allies that have been reluctant to grant the US access, basing and overflight rights, known as ABO, for strikes on Iran by suspending them from the alliance.
The transatlantic defence organisation’s founding treaty does not include any mechanism for a member to be expelled.
The Spanish prime minister had already upset the US president last year by rejecting Nato’s proposal for member states to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP, saying the idea would “not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive”.
At an EU summit last week, Sánchez said Spain worked “with official documents and statements. The Spanish government’s position is clear: absolute cooperation with allies, but always within the framework of international law.”
He said Trump’s “illegal war” showed “the failure of brute force”. Sánchez has previously said his country would not be “complicit in something that is bad for the world and that is also contrary to our values and interests”.
On 1 April Trump said he was “absolutely without question” considering withdrawing from Nato because of the European allies’ refusal to take part in the war on Iran and help secure the economically vital strait of Hormuz.
A withdrawal would be catastrophic for the security of Europe, but is seen as unlikely because of US legislation passed in 2024 which bars a president from leaving Nato without either a two-thirds Senate majority or an act of Congress.
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The latest immigration proposal is just amnesty with a new sales pitch
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Whenever Washington politicians tell you that a new, 250-page bipartisan immigration bill isn’t amnesty, it’s probably amnesty. And sure enough, the “Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream” (DIGNIDAD) Act of 2025… is amnesty.
Like Hollywood executives incapable of telling original stories anymore, Washington’s corporate establishment is trying to reboot a failed franchise — Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) — that audiences never embraced in this first place. DIGNIDAD is the legislative equivalent of Howard the Duck II.
Like all CIR proposals, DIGNIDAD ostensibly improves immigration enforcement policy in exchange for amnestying millions of illegal immigrants. It would legalize — and create a pathway to citizenship for — aliens who came here illegally as children. Second, it would create an all-new amnesty program for illegals who came here prior to Joe Biden’s open-borders fiasco in 2021. Third, it gives amnesty to a spouse or child of a U.S. citizen, even if they had a visa denied or received a deportation order.
BORDER CROSSINGS HIT 55-YEAR LOW — AFTER DEMOCRATS SAID REFORM WAS THE ONLY FIX
The 19 Republicans who have co-sponsored the bill insist that their new “Dignity” amnesty would be temporary — apparently unaware that this makes the legislation worse. If 10 million illegal immigrants are granted seven years of amnesty, then in seven years’ time, the American people will be emotionally blackmailed into making the amnesty permanent.
In the meantime, temporary amnesty will give the bill’s real authors — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — what they want most: a huge population of cheap, legally vulnerable foreign workers they can underpay and exploit.
DIGNIDAD’s combination of faux-libertarian lawlessness, elitist exploitation, and corporate welfare is what the Washington Establishment calls a “win-win.” The American people might use a more colorful term.
All the old arguments against CIR apply to DIGNIDAD, too.
First, while the amnesty half of the bill is real, the enforcement half is fake. Establishment presidents of both parties have shown they have no compunction about ignoring immigration laws to facilitate illegal in-migration. Trading phony enforcement for real amnesty is not a compromise — it’s a scam.
Second, even if the new enforcement measures were implemented, they would be inadequate to the challenges we face. Indeed, they would impede enforcement. For instance, DIGNIDAD would bar federal agencies from sharing information about red-flagged illegals who failed to qualify for amnesty, effectively using federal resources to aid and abet federal criminals.
Finally, amnesty would only invite more illegal immigration. It would signal the rest of the world that if you can get in, even by breaking our laws, you’ll be able to stay. That is what happened after the infamous 1986 CIR deal. It is what the Gang of Eight was up to in 2013. And rest assured, it is absolutely the intent of the corporate lobbyists who actually drafted this legislation.
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The real problem with DIGNIDAD — and CIR in general — is that it’s an elitist solution in search of a problem. The bill’s supporters — on Capitol Hill, K Street, and Wall Street — believe that the only problem with American immigration law is that America has immigration law.
They look at the 20 million foreigners residing here illegally and take for granted that it’s on us to figure how they can stay. As if the fundamental problem with these 20 million people is their legal status. No. The problem is their presence. The problem is they broke our laws coming here and continue to break them by staying.
We already have a simple solution to that problem, as President Donald Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan have shown for the last 15 months. Secure the border so no new illegal immigrants enter the country, and send home those already here.
Illegal immigrants don’t need a path to citizenship. They already have citizenship — in their own countries.
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That this approach is inconvenient to corporate elites and the bipartisan politicians whose campaigns they finance is not the American people’s problem. Our problem is the 20 million foreigners that the Washington establishment invited into our country to suppress workers’ wages, drive up housing prices, and drain government budgets. Amnesty undermines the rule of law, social solidarity and cultural assimilation, and treats working Americans like second-class citizens.
The lawless, globalist, elitist DIGNIDAD Act is everything congressional Republicans were elected to stop.
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OpenAI locks GPT-5.5-Cyber behind velvet rope • The Register
OpenAI is lining up a limited release of its new GPT-5.5-Cyber model to a handpicked circle of “cyber defenders,” just weeks after taking a swipe at Anthropic for doing almost exactly the same thing.
CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X that the rollout will begin “in the next few days,” with access restricted to a group he described as trusted defenders working to secure critical systems.
“We will work with the entire ecosystem and the government to figure out trusted access for cyber,” he wrote, adding that the goal is to “rapidly help secure companies and infrastructure.”
GPT-5.5-Cyber is built to spot flaws before anyone else abuses them. OpenAI says it can pentest, find bugs, exploit them, and tear apart malware, but as we have already seen, tools that break systems rarely stay in the right hands for long.
OpenAI’s announcement comes just weeks after Anthropic rolled out its own cyber-focused model, Claude Mythos, to roughly 50 organizations under tight controls, saying it would never be made publicly available – and Altman was not impressed.
As reported by TechCrunch, he took aim at what he framed as exclusivity dressed up as caution during an appearance on the Core Memory podcast.
“There are people in the world who, for a long time, have wanted to keep AI in the hands of a smaller group of people,” he said. “You can justify that in a lot of different ways.” He went further, likening the approach to selling fear. “We have built a bomb, we are about to drop it on your head. We will sell you a bomb shelter for $100 million.”
Now OpenAI is, if not building the same shelter, at least checking IDs at the door.
Independent testing suggests the model is not just marketing fluff. The UK’s AI Security Institute said this week that GPT-5.5-Cyber is “one of the strongest models we have tested on our cyber tasks,” and noted it is only the second system to complete one of its multi-step attack simulations end to end.
It may be pitched as protection, but when the tools can both break and fix systems, the difference often comes down to who gets there first. ®
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First Thing: Trump doubles down on rift with Germany, Italy and Spain amid war on Iran | US news
Good morning.
Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain a day after he saying was looking at curtailing the number deployed in Germany.
The US president’s threat to Germany came after the country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said America was being “humiliated” by Iran. Trump has severely criticised Nato allies for not sending their navies to help open the strait of Hormuz, a crucial commercial shipping corridor.
At an Oval Office event on Thursday, Trump was asked if he would consider withdrawing troops from bases in Spain and Italy over their unwillingness to get involved in his war on Iran.
“Yeah, probably,” the president replied. “Why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible.”
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What has Congress been saying about the war? A senior Democrat in the Senate grilled the US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, on Thursday, accusing him of failing to give Trump an accurate picture of the war on Iran while resorting to “dangerously exaggerated” statements to create an inaccurate picture of a US military triumph.
Video shows moment shooter tried to storm White House dinner
Federal prosecutors released footage on Thursday of the moment officials say Cole Tomas Allen tried to storm last week’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an alleged attempt to kill Donald Trump.
Amid questions about whether or not Allen fired his weapon before being subdued, Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington DC, released edited security camera footage of the incident in a social media post.
In a caption, Pirro claimed the video showed Allen casing the hotel location the night before Saturday’s dinner, and then shooting a Secret Service agent as he rushed through a metal detector at a checkpoint while officers were in the process of removing at least one of the two magnetometers used for screening guests.
60 Minutes journalist decries ‘spread of corporate meddling’ at CBS News
The veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi expressed concern about “the spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear” at CBS News and her uncertainty about whether she will keep her job after she pushed back on a directive to change her December segment on Venezuelans who were sent to the Cecot prison in El Salvador.
Alfonsi spoke about the incident for the first time on Thursday evening after receiving the Ridenhour prize for courage at the National Press Club in Washington. Her comments come as the Trump administration has piled pressure on US media, and follow the CBS News editor Bari Weiss’s decision to shelve the Cecot segment on the flagship news program.
Alfonsi had alleged at the time that Weiss had spiked the story for political purposes, a significant accusation of journalistic impropriety. Weiss argued that the segment was delayed because it did not sufficiently include the perspective of the Trump administration.
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What did she say about her job? Alfonsi’s future at the network is said to be in jeopardy. She acknowledged that uncertainty in her remarks. “Thank you for this award. I didn’t know that the theme was hope. My hope recently has been that I still have a job,” she said.
In other news …
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The voting rights advocates who fought for majority-minority districts across the US south are organizing their next steps after a supreme court ruling on the Voting Rights Act that eviscerated much of the work of the civil rights era.
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The Oscar statuette belonging to Pavel Talankin, the star and co-director of the Academy Award-winning documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin, has disappeared after officials at New York’s John F Kennedy airport confiscated it before he boarded a flight.
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The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, confirmed his intention to stand for re-election for a third full term after an attempt to orchestrate a handshake between the Palestinian and Israeli delegates at the Fifa congress backfired.
Stat of the day: Press freedom at lowest level in 25 years amid growing authoritarian pressure
Press freedom around the world is at its lowest ebb in a generation, according to an influential annual index that highlights growing authoritarian pressure on the media. The average score for the 180 countries assessed by the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was the lowest in the index’s 25-year history. Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the press and journalists were described as a “systematic policy”, pushing the US down to 64th place in the index.
Culture pick: What The Devil Wears Prada 2 gets right about millennial life
Runway magazine is collapsing, Miranda is eating in the cafeteria and flying economy. In place of the glossy fantasy of the original The Devil Wears Prada, the new sequel reflects a struggling media industry. Andy is back, and while she may be accomplished, she is still grappling with job insecurity and whether she can afford to have children – echoing a wider generational shift.
Don’t miss this: Why the outrage over this dress worn to the White House correspondents’ dinner?
Although far less important than the political violence at the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington over the weekend, Jennifer Rauchet, the wife of Pete Hegseth, caused partisan uproar by wearing a dress that resembled a gown listed on the fast-fashion outlet Shein for $42, sparking debate about what it says about our attitudes to fast fashion.
Climate check: Hope is contagious and science is king – 10 big lessons on ending the fossil fuel era
After a landmark climate meeting in Santa Marta, Colombia, where nearly 60 countries gathered to discuss ending the production and use of planet-heating fossil fuels, one thing stood out: a shift in mood. UN’s annual climate summits, or Cops, can often feel stuck and frustrating, but delegates in Colombia described the atmosphere as “euphoric”.
Last Thing: ‘Don’t fall!’ – foil boarders describe hair-raising shark chase caught on video off California coast
Ron Takeda and Tavis Boise were a few miles off the coast of Santa Barbara when they noticed a large mass trailing behind them. They quickly determined it was a massive shark in hot pursuit of Takeda. Footage of the chase has gone viral. In the video, Boise can be heard shouting: “Don’t fall!”
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DOJ releases haunting images from WHCA Dinner attack and more top headlines
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Good morning and welcome to Fox News’ morning newsletter, Fox News First. And here’s what you need to know to start your day …
TOP 3
1. DOJ releases haunting images from WHCA Dinner attack
2. Groups mobilize 3,000 May Day protests
3. Trump slams US ally as ‘absolutely horrible’
MAJOR HEADLINES
CLASSROOM CONTROVERSY — GOP lawmakers seek to defund HBCU after it canceled Republican’s commencement speech. Continue reading …
THRONE FOR A LOOP — Comedian calls out ‘No Kings’ hypocrisy during historic royal visit to Congress. Continue reading …
‘ACTIVE AND ONGOING’ — Three months after Nancy Guthrie’s abduction, sheriff’s office renews plea as key questions remain unanswered. Continue reading …
CAMPUS CHAOS — King Charles’ ‘Just give us a ring!’ quip leads viral moments from royal US tour with Queen Camilla. Continue reading …
TWISTED KIN — Slain beauty queen’s mother-in-law arrested after execution-style killing, manhunt. Continue reading …
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POLITICS
EARLY START — Vance, Cruz, head to Iowa on 2026 missions as 2028 GOP race to succeed Trump heats up. Continue reading …
LIGHTS BACK ON — Trump ends DHS’ months-long nightmare that left immigration enforcement without funding. Continue reading …
CAPITOL GRILLING — Hegseth fires back at Warren’s insider trading comments tied to Iran war. Continue reading …
CONTROVERSY RETURNS — Crockett draws fresh backlash after appearing to mock Abbott’s disability. Continue reading …
MEDIA
CULTURE CLASH — Liberals rage as Trump hails USA’s ‘Anglo-Saxon’ heritage during King Charles visit. Continue reading …
‘INSANE’ — Minnesota mayors drag ‘ridiculous’ bill penalizing cities for not flying new controversial flag. Continue reading …
THRONE FOR A LOOP — Comedian calls out ‘No Kings’ hypocrisy during historic royal visit to Congress. Continue reading …
WASP STINGS BACK — Marvel star torches Disney for axing artists she says built the franchise. Continue reading …
OPINION
ERFAN FARD — Trump is trying to negotiate with an Iranian regime at war with itself. Continue reading …
DR. BEN CARSON — I know how bad the SPLC was, it came after me and put me at risk. Continue reading …
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IN OTHER NEWS
ROYAL CHARM — From feeding chickens to cracking history jokes, King Charles wins over America. Continue reading …
FAMILY BUSINESS — Trump weighs in about his son taking over iconic reality TV franchise. Continue reading …
DIGITAL’S NEWS QUIZ — What was King Charles’ gift to Trump? What was this arrested library worker’s fate? Take the quiz here …
SACRED SECRETS —Christian leader’s treasure found after decades-long mystery. Continue reading …
DERBY DELICIOUS — Paula Deen reveals her favorite thing about Kentucky Derby weekend. See video …
WATCH
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP — We’ll see about a potential ‘The Apprentice’ return. See video …
PAUL MAURO — This is the troubling part about the WHCA Dinner shooting. See video …
LISTEN
Tune in as a high-profile endorsement reshapes California’s gubernatorial race, spotlighting debates over economic policy, party unity, and the state’s political direction. Check it out …
FOX WEATHER
What’s it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading…
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