Funke Akindele has become the first filmmaker to rank No. 1 at the African box office for three consecutive years, with a combined domestic gross of N5.3 billion.
Her latest release, “Behind The Scenes” (2025), officially closed at N2.103 billion, overtaking Everybody Loves Jenifa to become West Africa’s highest-grossing film of all time.
This is according to box office data from cinema distributors and industry trackers across the region.
The film was released under the Funke Ayotunde Akindele Network (FAAN) and distributed by FilmOne Entertainment.
A breakdown of the box office numbers
- 2023: A Tribe Called Judah grossed N1.408 billion, becoming Nollywood’s first-ever billion-naira film.
- 2024: Everybody Loves Jenifa followed with a box office haul of N1.883 billion, setting a new industry benchmark.
- 2025: Behind The Scenes surpassed both titles, closing at N2.103 billion to lead the regional box office. The total gross of all three movies hit N5.39 billion in three years.
The performance positions Akindele as Africa’s highest-grossing filmmaker of all time, as well as the continent’s highest-grossing director, producer, and screenwriter.
About the film
Directed by Funke Akindele and Tunde Olaoye, Behind The Scenes features an ensemble cast including Scarlet Gomez, Iyabo Ojo, Destiny Etiko, Tobi Bakre, Ibrahim Chatta, Ini Dima-Okojie, Uzor Arukwe, Uche Montana, and Victoria Adeleye.
The 2-hour-24-minute drama, rated 12A, follows Aderonke “Ronky-Fella” Faniran, a successful real estate entrepreneur whose generosity forces a reckoning with personal boundaries and responsibility.
Akindele previously disclosed that the film’s production budget exceeded N1 billion, underscoring the rising cost of large-scale Nollywood productions. Reports note that her sustained box office dominance comes at a time when inflation, higher ticket prices, and consumer spending pressures have made theatrical success increasingly difficult to achieve.
What you should know
Industry data shows the film crossed N1.1 billion within just 17 days of release, making it the fastest film in West Africa to reach the billion-naira milestone. It also logged the highest single-day gross in regional box office history, pulling in N129.5 million on Boxing Day.
FilmOne Entertainment confirmed the figures, describing the run as “another history made,” while crediting sustained audience turnout and strong word-of-mouth.
Since her breakout role on I Need to Know, Funke Akindele has evolved into one of Nollywood’s most accomplished and commercially successful filmmakers. Through her production outfit, Scene One Productions, she has delivered a string of box office-dominating titles that have redefined earnings potential in the Nigerian film industry.
