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Kunle Afolayan: “Netflix Wants Me To Create Anikulapo Series”

Popular Nollywood performer Kunle Afolayan has disclosed that the international streaming service Netflix wants him to make an Anikulapo television series.
In an interview with the Guardian UK today, the award-winning director stated as much, adding that he was confident “Anikulapo,” the picture he had been working on for six years, will be a box office success.

On September 30, 2022, “Anikulapo,” a Netflix original movie set in the ancient Oyo kingdom of the seventeenth century, had its premiere. A week later, with a total of 8.7 million streaming hours, it had surpassed all other non-English movies on the service.

In “Anikulapo,” Kunle Afolayan, who starred his daughter Eyiyemi Afolayan, 17, said that he originally intended to make it into a series, but Netflix persuaded him to first make it a feature film. If the film was successful, he could then turn it into a series.

“I’ve been working on Aníkúlápó for six years. Originally, I wanted to make a series, but I shopped it and kept telling people that this movie would be bigger than Game of Thrones,” Afolayan said.

“Eventually, Netflix told me to make a movie first since I believed in the project that much, and if it became a success, we’d develop a series.

“Right now, Netflix is the one urging me to start making the series. I knew we made a great film and that it’d start conversations, but I didn’t know it’d do as well as it has done,” he added.

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The New IT Girl in Nollywood is Bimbo Ademoye and she’s not Underrated.

While playing the third sugar sister in Kayode Kasum’s 2019 comedy-thriller Sugar Rush, Bimbo Ademoye successfully stood out and stole scenes from actresses like Adesua Etomi-Wellington and Bisola Aiyeola.

Bimbo Ademoye has emerged in 2020 as the movie’s breakout star and the subject of innumerable memes. She went from being an underappreciated YouTube and Iroko TV actor in movies like The Diary of a Crazy Nigerian Woman and One Long Day to a Netflix king in Kunle Afolayan’s Anklápó.

Back Up Wife with Seun Akindele from 2017 was my introduction to Bimbo Ademoye. Her performance brought to mind Funke Akindele’s breakout performance in the 2008 film Jenifa. Even while it was entertaining, I was also afraid of these roles—the razz rural girl who accidentally becomes the brunt of every joke—because we’d seen how they’d come to be a stereotype Funke Akindele still finds difficult to break years after Jenifa.

I’m not surprised Bimbo has been able to hold our attention given how frequently modern Nollywood relies on humorous elements, whether or not they are necessary. She was the funniest sister in Sugar Rush, the humorous companion in Nneka the Pretty Serpent, and we can’t forget Ayinla from the iconic Tunde Kelani.

Bimbo, on the other hand, slides through it with ease while other artists cling on these humorous bits like their life rely on it. Her quips are always on point, and she consumes the stage so completely that I worry about her back about half the time because it can’t be easy to carry a show from beginning to end.

Comedy frequently results in one-dimensional characters, but Bimbo seems to have modified the clichés she was given to create people that seem genuine. Yes, in movies like Selina and Breaded Life, her persona is portrayed as a comedy. Even though these characters are exaggerated and imaginary, you end up understanding their reasons and the possibility that they could be actual people rather than just laughing at them.

With his most recent Netflix project, Anklápó, Kunle Afolayan finally earned my respect after directing Citation, a movie that failed to make the post-sex for grades statement it was intended to, and Swallow, which was famous only for its wigs, production design, and Ijeoma Grace Agu’s transformative performance.

The Yoruba epic, which was released in September 2022, soon rose to the top of the list of Nollywood movies discussed that year. Anklápó also served as a further warning that, even in the 1900s, guys will humiliate you.

Bimbo doesn’t have to be amusing to captivate you with her act, as Anklápó demonstrated. Gone, a 2018 redemption drama directed by Daniel Ademinokan, was another movie that made reference to this aspect of her. It was at that point that I first had the impression, “Omo, this chick is going to go all the way.”

Additionally, the fact that Bimbo genuinely has a personality off-screen doesn’t hurt. She has amassed over two million followers on social media thanks to her sense of humor and ability to transform what could have been unfunny sponsored advertisements into amusing unique skits. You should really get into her Instagram persona, Iya Barakat, if you haven’t already.

It’s safe to say that Bimbo has made the transition from being underestimated to the it-girl of Nollywood with the announcement of Sugar Rush 2 and the upcoming releases of Gangs of Lagos on Amazon Prime. Since Bimbo has become everyone’s favorite, that’s okay even though I know we all adore it when our favorites are underappreciated. It implies that we have taste from the beginning.

I’m very eager to see more of Bimbo Ademoye, and yes, as this tweet stated, we’re still hoping for a Bimbo and Uzor Arukwe romantic comedy as Nollywood continues to push itself with films like Brotherhood and For Maria: Ebun Pataki.

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Nigerians are incensed at the Oscars committee’s rejection of Kunle Afolayan’s film “Anikulapo”.


The Nigerian Academy Awards selection committee has removed Kunle Afolayan’s most recent film, “Anikulapo,” from consideration for the Academy Awards, often known as the Oscars. 

The Nigerian actor and producer also voiced his disappointment while sharing the news on social media. 

As per Kunle Afolayan: “I am so pleased and delighted that the whole world has decided to tag ANIKULAPO film “a masterpiece “even though the Nigeria Oscar selection committee think it’s not worth submitting for the Oscars. Will keep doing my own thing”.

Despite the wonderful reviews Anikulapo has gotten all around the world since its premiere, the Academy Awards do not think it merits being nominated. 

The Nigerian Oscar selection committee said last month that it has received three Yoruba-language entries: Anklápó, Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman, and King of Thieves.

All three films were deemed “ineligible” by the majority of the selection committee members, who decided that they would not be entered into the competition.

The film was produced and shot by Jonathan Kovel at the recently opened KAP resort in a village in Oyo State. Afolayan had partnered with Netflix. 

The Oscars are given to films that exhibit artistic and technical excellence in the American and international film industries. 

The honor is recognized as the most prestigious and noteworthy accomplishment in the global entertainment sector. 

Since then, the news has angered a lot of Nigerians and even followers worldwide.