‘No Competition’ — Kunle Afolayan Speaks On Nollywood Box Office Race

Filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has said he is not driven by box office records or competition for cinema revenue, emphasising that his priority remains creative control and long-term value rather than headline earnings.

Afolayan made the remarks while speaking at the Lagos Business of Film Summit, where he criticised what he described as the exhausting promotional demands that often accompany cinema releases in Nollywood.

According to the filmmaker, streaming platforms such as Netflix provide better financial returns without the pressure of engaging in extensive promotional gimmicks. He referenced his recent project, Aníkúlápó: Rise of the Spectre, as an example of how strong content can thrive with minimal promotion.

Responding to questions about a possible return to cinema releases, Afolayan said he would only consider it under conditions that allow him full creative freedom and limit what he termed unnecessary promotional stress.

“I’ll come back if Kene and Ope can say to me, look at the gimmick she has left. See what they did.

“They want to release in December, your film that you are in. They have announced in January. But my point really is, I just need like, I’ll make you amazing film,” he said in part.

The filmmaker further argued that quality storytelling can generate audience interest without elaborate publicity campaigns, pointing again to the success of Aníkúlápó.

“Look at, okay, look at Anikulapo, This is not anything. We released just a screenshot, a screen grab of the series, I did that like two weeks ago. I posted it and it was people have been stabbed of good content.

“You see why you need me, Kene The whole world went boom because they haven’t seen, you know, anything from us in a while,” he said.

Afolayan added that while a cinema collaboration remains a possibility in the future, it would not involve what he described as performative promotion.

“This year, if there’s a collaboration, we can make a great film and then we go to cinema. But we won’t dance.”

In a separate video that began trending on Saturday, the filmmaker reiterated his stance on box office competition and revenue milestones.

“I will continue to say it: there is no competition. I don’t want N2bn in the cinema. I don’t even want ₦1bn in the cinema if I can’t take ₦10m,” he said.

His comments come amid a period of strong box office performances in Nollywood, including Funke Akindele’s Behind The Scenes, which crossed the N2 billion mark to become the first Nollywood film to achieve the milestone, and Toyin Abraham’s Oversabi Aunty, which grossed over N1 billion.