Funke Akindele’s ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ sets box office record, opens with over N45m

• Funke Akindele’s movie, Everybody Loves Jenifa has set the record for Nollywood’s box office, grossing over N45 million on its opening day.
• The actor and producer has continued to break boundaries in the Nigerian film industry and her latest project isn’t any different.

The newly released movie by Funke Akindele, ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ has shattered Nollywood box office records, becoming the highest-grossing opening day film in the industry’s history.

In a post via X on Saturday, the Nigerian Box Office disclosed that the movie, which was released across cinemas last Friday, grossed N45.2 million on its opening day, with 9,409 admissions.

It added that ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ surpassed the record set by ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, another movie produced by Akindele in 2023.

‘A Tribe Called Judah’ recorded over N1 billion in the country’s box office last year.

“Everybody Loves Jenifa’ shattered box office records yesterday. It had the biggest opening day for a Nollywood film with ₦45.2M!” it wrote.

“ELJ drew 9,409 admissions, surpassing ATCJ’s 8,870 despite not screening at Genesis & missing most of the day at Silverbird Cinemas.

“All of these are outside of the advanced screening. Please note that the final figures could be slightly more.”

Similarly, Film One, the entertainment company, took to Instagram to announce the record-breaking achievement.

It added that the film has the biggest opening day for a release in 2024 and the highest admission count for a release in the same year.

‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ is part of the popular Jenifa franchise, which has been entertaining audiences since 2008.

The movie features an ensemble cast, including Layi Wasabi, Nancy Isime, Jackie Appiah, Falz, Omowunmi Dada, Chimezie Imo, Patience Ozokwor, and Stan Nze.

Akindele who anticipates ELJ to rake in a total of N1billion, recently warned that anyone caught pirating the movie would be arrested.

‘A Tribe Called Judah’ recorded over N1 billion in the country’s box office in 2023. See screenshot of post below: