Though 1999 was a banner yr for American cinema, it was not variety to John McTiernan‘s extremely underrated historic motion journey, The thirteenth Warrior. The director behind such bona fide motion hits as Predator and Die Laborious took a monetary drubbing when The thirteenth Warrior was soundly defeated on the field workplace, dropping almost $130 million for Touchstone Footage. When the mud settled, The thirteenth Warrior was the most important box-office failure of 1999.
Armed with an costly manufacturing price range of $160 million (equal to $302 million in 2025), The thirteenth Warrior had an A-list worldwide pedigree to grow to be successful. Alas, between the combined opinions and stiff box-office competitors from a galaxy far, far-off, The thirteenth Warrior was slain theatrically. With the movie celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary in August, a reassessment of its deserves is so as regardless of its infamous monetary flop.
‘The thirteenth Warrior’s Premise, Defined
The thirteenth Warrior
- Launch Date
-
August 27, 1999
- Runtime
-
102 Minutes
- Forged
-
Antonio Banderas
, Diane Venora
, Dennis Storhøi
, Vladimir Kulich
, Omar Sharif
, Anders T. Andersen
, Richard Bremmer
, Tony Curran
, Mischa Hausserman
, Neil Maffin
, Asbjørn Bear Riis
, Clive Russell
, Daniel Southern
, Oliver Sveinall
, Sven Wollter
, Albie Woodington
, John DeSantis
, Erick Avari
, Maria Bonnevie
, Richard Ooms
The thirteenth Warrior is a historic action-adventure movie primarily based on Michael Crichton’s (Jurassic Park) 1976 novel Eaters of the Lifeless. Not like Crichton’s typical science fiction fare, Eaters of the Lifeless is a combo adaptation of the epic English poem Beowulf and the Tenth-century chronicle of the Volga Vikings, informed by Muslim nomad Ahmad Ibn Fadlan (Antonio Banderas). Subsequently, it is potential that the dramatic crux of the story was misplaced in translation, maybe alienating, if not complicated, viewers who noticed the movie in theaters in 1999.
Plot-wise, The thirteenth Warrior follows Fadlan as he’s given a harmful mission to journey from Baghdad to consort with the King of Saqaliba. En route to fulfill the King, Fadlan and his shut ally Melchisidek (Omar Sharif) are rescued from the ruthless Tartar forces by touring Norsemen. The extra time Fadlan spends with the Vikings, the extra he understands their barbarous way of life, vastly differing from his cultured, diplomatic upbringing.
Over time, Fadlan’s alienated tradition conflict develops into acceptance and assimilation. The Viking chief, Buliwyf (Beowulf), embraces Fadlan as one in every of his personal regardless of his Muslim beliefs and completely different cultural and customary backgrounds. By combining Beowulf and the Volga Vikings story, Crichton and McTiernan sought to bridge cultural gaps to inform a narrative of inclusion, cooperation, and spiritual tolerance.
‘The thirteenth Warrior’s A-Listing Pedigree
As promoted within the advertising materials, The thirteenth Warrior got here “From the Writer of ‘Jurassic Park‘ and the Director of ‘Die Laborious.'” Such a draw ought to have led to raised field workplace enterprise, with Crichton additionally answerable for The Andromeda Pressure, Westworld, The Nice Practice Theft, Rising Solar, Tornado, Congo, and different extremely profitable film variations.
Equally, John McTiernan would have been a Corridor of Fame director if he made Predator or Die Laborious alone. That he directed each all-time nice motion classics and nonetheless failed to draw droves to theaters for a film primarily based on a Crichton novel speaks volumes. Sadly, McTiernan directed solely two motion pictures after The thirteenth Warrior, together with the abysmal Rollerball remake and the aptly-titled crime thriller Primary.
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In fact, in 1999, Antonio Banderas was an enormous film star scorching off the success of El Mariachi, Desperado, Assassins, The Masks of Zorro, and extra. But, McTiernan and Touchstone could have overestimated Banderas’ draw by surrounding him with a proficient worldwide ensemble that many American audiences did not acknowledge.
Regardless of the A-list author, director, and star pedigree, the obscure supporting forged (past Sharif) could have damage the movie greater than the creators had anticipated. Nonetheless, when assessing the story, performances, and technical craft, there is not any approach The thirteenth Warrior deserved to die a painful box-office loss of life.
Why ‘The thirteenth Warrior’ Did not Deserve Its Field Workplace Demise
The thirteenth Warrior opened theatrically on August 27, 1999, between the canine days of summer season blockbusters and the start of prestigious awards darlings. Whereas maybe not a really perfect time to launch a historic journey story, The thirteenth Warrior was drubbed domestically and internationally. The movie earned simply $61 million on an estimated $160 million price range (manufacturing and advertising), dropping as much as $129 million to grow to be the largest field workplace flop of 1999 (through Enterprise Insider and The Numbers).
Whereas it is simple to level to the runaway success of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which has now grossed over a billion {dollars} worldwide, The thirteenth Warrior confronted different stiff theatrical competitors. Hit motion pictures like The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch Undertaking opened in August 1999, leaving little room for a historic drama to resonate with the lots.
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Within the final 25 years, The thirteenth Warrior has been reappraised as a cult traditional, unjustly neglected in 1999. A lot has been made concerning the prolonged re-shoots and re-edits required, together with Crichton taking up McTiernan’s directorial duties. Omar Sharif even briefly retired from performing after the film’s dismal efficiency. Nonetheless, primarily based on the film’s message and legacy, The thirteenth Warrior makes an attempt to reunite the world by cultural variations moderately than tear them aside.
The fusion of Muslim and Viking customs could appear irreconcilable, however in the long run, it is an honorable and uplifting story of tolerance, acceptance, empathy, and unified heroism. The storytelling could also be clunky and complicated, however there is not any approach such a well-meaning film from Banderas, Crichton, and McTiernan deserved to be 1999’s largest cinematic debacle. The thirteenth Warrior is on the market to lease on Prime Video or stream on Hoopla.