Funke Akindele Eyes N5bn from ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’/Vop

Funke Akindele is expecting at least N5 billion in total box office revenue from her new ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ movie project.

Her previous record-breaking film, ‘A Tribe Called Judah,’ became the first ever Nollywood film to cross the N1 billion mark in cinemas in 2023.

The total revenue for the 2023 film stood at N1.4 billion, and Akindele has projected the new release to surpass the previous film and hit N5 billion.

Through the distribution of Nile Entertainment, headed by Moses Babatunde, ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ is set to hit 30 international cinemas, including Australia, US, and the United Kingdom.

With cinema ticket prices at a current average rate of $10.90 in the UK, $8 in the US and Canada and $12.95 in Australia, Akindele is looking to break international box office numbers for a Nigerian film.

She is tapping the influence of skits to draw a high number of attendees to the cinema. In September, after shooting for the film was wrapped up, Akindele sought the expertise of the movie’s cinematographer, John Demps, for the promotion of the film.

The skit, which involved Akindele and both casts of ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ and ‘A Tribe Called Judah,’ saw them battle for dominance in a tug of war that saw the later cast winning.

‘Everybody loves Jenifa’ already has opening weekend record numbers after it debuted on December 13, 2024. The film has smashed the record for the highest-grossing single-day performance in Nigerian cinema history, raking in a staggering N87.8 million. But it has also set a new benchmark for opening weekend admissions in 2024, drawing in 38,353 eager viewers.

Questions have been asked about the numbers given the purchasing power of Nigerians and whether the N5 billion goal can be achieved.

Akindele’s new film will be her 22nd work in a list that dates back to 2005 when she produced ‘13th Day: Ojo kerala.’

On Christmas day in 2020, Akindele released ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga,’ which brought in N636 million at the box office. The numbers rose in 2022 when ‘Battle on Buka Street’ was released. By February 2023, the film had raked in N668 million and was the highest-grossing Nollywood film that year.

Despite increasing cinema ticket prices year on year, Akindele’s movies have managed to break box office boundaries and with early numbers coming in, the trend looks to remain the same.

According to box office reports, the December 17 numbers have seen the movie hit N280 million and on cruise control to hit N1 billion in fewer days than ‘A Tribe Called Judah,’ which hit the billion mark in 21 days after release.

The movie released in the festive season creates another huge advantage for the film. Nigerians, including locals and those coming back to the country, will add to the number of the viewing audience and with more disposable income from visiting audiences to spend at the cinema, Akindele may be in for a fun.

According to a cinema operator, who spoke with BusinessDay on the condition of anonymity, there has been an obvious increase in attendance with the release of ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa.’

“In areas like Surulere, the Jenifa film has produced over 100 attendees in each of its screens per day. So if you have three shows for that screen, you are expecting over 300 attendees to show up. So, it has been a good turn-out generally. I know across the circuit, a lot of cinemas have seen a lot of attendance,” the operator said.

“The filmmakers benefit from the fact that this is a festive period and there have been a lot of campaigns for movies like ‘The Waiter’ by AY coming up this weekend, ‘Alakada’ and ‘Bad and Boujee.’ There is an advanced screening for them. So, the turnout has been, you know, good compared to the previous months leading to this period.”

BusinessDay