Tag: funke akindele

Renowned Nigerian filmmaker Funke Akindele’s newly released film, Behind the Scene, has made history as the first Nollywood movie to exceed ₦2 billion in cinema box office sales.

FilmOne, a leading Nigerian film distributor, announced that Behind the Scenes’ movie grossed N2,103,039,706 in just one month of its release.

The distributor in a post on X, revealed that the new achievement makes Funke Akindele Africa’s most commercially successful filmmaker in Africa, highest grossing producer, writer, and director in West Africa’s history.

The actress was also named as the first filmmaker to rank number one for three consecutive years at the African box office.

Also celebrating the achievement, the actress, in a video on her Instagram page on Monday evening, said “we have every reason to thank God. 2 billion and counting is not a joke. Ladies and gentlemen, Behind the Scenes to the world.”

“Joy overflows, my heart is full of gratitude to God and my amazing fans. Reaching this incredible milestone and still counting would not have been possible without you. I’m deeply grateful”, she said.

Popular filmmaker Funke Akindele has appealed to fans to stop recording and sharing clips from her new film, Behind The Scenes, warning that such actions could harm the movie and everyone involved in its production.

The appeal was made on Saturday, December 13, 2025, through her Instagram page after videos from cinema screenings began spreading online, especially from viewers in the United Kingdom.

She explained that recording any part of the film in the cinema, even for a few seconds, constitutes piracy and undermines the project.

Funke expressed concern about the significant investment in the movie, noting that unauthorised recordings could affect its success and lead to financial losses.

She urged fans to support the film properly by watching it in cinemas without filming or sharing scenes online.

She encouraged moviegoers to take photos only at cinema display points and to share their reviews rather than clips from the movie.

According to her, respecting this rule is a way of supporting the effort, time and resources put into making the film.

Behind The Scenes focuses on the emotional pressure, personal sacrifices, and struggles that often accompany fame and success.

She wrote: “Please don’t record, we spent over a billion on that project, don’t let me run into debt, please stop posting the recordings, it is piracy.

“Say no to direct & indirect piracy. Hello my beautiful fans. We’re super excited that Behind The Scenes is showing in cinemas, but please let’s say a big no to recording any scenes of #BehindTheScenes in the cinema. Recording or posting clips, even short ones is also piracy.

“Yes, take pictures at the roll up banners and share your reviews, but no recording inside the cinema, please.

“Kindly share this message with family and friends let’s support the hard work behind this masterpiece. See you at the cinemas! Thank you.”

The movie features several well-known actors, including Tobi Bakre, Iyabo Ojo, Scarlet Gomez and Ini Dima Okojie.

The film premiered in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2025, before hitting cinemas across Nigeria on December 12, 2025.

Funke Akindele, the Nollywood actress and filmmaker, has revealed that she earned her first ₦1 million in 1999 from her breakout role as “Bisi” in the popular educational TV series I Need to Know.

In a video posted on her X account, Akindele reflected on her early acting journey, revealing that the path to success wasn’t smooth.

She recalled starting out in 1996, taking minor “waka pass” roles and facing several rejections at auditions before her big break finally came.

“I made that around 1999. I started my career from like 1996, playing waka pass roles, 1997 going for auditions, getting a lot of nos,” she said.

The actress further explained how her perseverance paid off when she was eventually cast in the TV series ‘I Need to Know’.

“Then I got one big yes with I Need to Know, and that is how I got my first ₦1 million.”

Speaking on how she used the money, Akindele revealed that the first person she informed was her mother, who encouraged her to pay her tithe before spending any part of it.

“What did I do with one million naira? First, I showed it to my mom. Of course, she knew about it, and then mommy advised that I have to pay my tithe first,”

“I paid my tithe, then I entered Yaba because I didn’t have shoes. I changed my wardrobe, shoes, bags, everything. The girl that had no shoes yesterday has today.”

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Funke Akindele has revealed that her new movie, Behind The Scenes, was inspired by a divine instruction that completely altered her original production plans.

During the FilmOne end-of-year exhibitor showcase, the acclaimed filmmaker revealed that she had initially planned to work on the sequel to ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ and had already begun rehearsals and negotiations before being spiritually led to make a different film.

The 38-year-old award-winning movie producer said that despite attempting four other scripts and exploring potential collaborations, she continued to receive divine instructions to set them aside.

Akindele said the idea for ‘Behind The Scenes’ was born from a single moment of inspiration, which she described as “deeply relatable and reflective of what many people experience in real life”.

“We weren’t supposed to release ‘Behind The Scenes’. I actually wanted to release ‘A Tribe Called Judah 2’. We’d even started rehearsals, negotiations, you know, training. But the Spirit of God kept telling me, ‘No, you will not shoot that film,’” she said.

“We tried, we tried almost four other scripts, lovely scripts, and the Spirit of God said, ‘You are joking’. We even wanted to partner with someone, a fantastic actor and filmmaker, but the Spirit of God said, ‘You’re wasting your time. You will shoot this film.’

“And the idea just came from one scene, and I said, ‘This is relatable’. A lot of people are going through what is happening in this film, what is going to happen, what you’re going to see in this movie.”

‘Behind The Scenes’, which stars Tobi Bakare, Veeiye, Uzor Arukwe, Ini Dima-Okojie, and Ibrahim Chatta, is set to hit cinemas nationwide on December 12.

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