A week after its premiere, Anikulapo, a film by Kunle Afolayan, has become the most-watched non-English film on Netflix.
Owing to the huge success it has garnered, Afolayan said Netflix, the popular movie streaming platform, has asked him to produce a series out of the movie which has had a cumulative 8.7million streaming hours; the first for any film on the network.
According to him, he had initially wanted to make the movie a series, but Netflix told him to make a movie first, and if it became a success, a series would be developed.
In an interview with The Guardian UK, the film maker said, “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.
“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.”
The film is set in the 17th century ancient Oyo kingdom. It premiered on Netflix on September 30, 2022.
Afolayan said, “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.”
The movie in Yoruba language, features leading actors and actresses such as Kunle Remi, Yinka Quadri, Bimbo Ademoye, Sola Sobowale, and a host of many others.
