Funke Akindele’s A Tribe Called Judah is now the highest-grossing Nollywood title of all time.
The film, an instant hit in the Nigerian box office, has now grossed over ₦854 million in just under three weeks, according to data Akindele shared on X (formerly Twitter).
However, the most recent data from the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) pegged its cumulative gross at just under ₦237 million. CEAN’s data only considered numbers prior to the 21st of December, before the Christmas and New Year holidays when cinema ticket sales typically skyrocket.
This ₦854 million gross is the culmination of a long career by Akindele catering to the cinematic taste of the Nigerian audience in an ever-changing media landscape.
Forgoing playing to the Western gallery, with her films, the actress has been able to maintain a steady position as a savvy box office operator in a new age when big streamers have landed on the continent with huge investments, jockeying to become global distributors of Nollywood content.
Since she became a star, playing the lead in the franchise Jenifa, by far one of the biggest movie franchises in the country more than a decade ago, she has been able to maintain a steady rise setting records at the box office.
Battle on Buka Street made over ₦668 million at the box office. Omo Ghetto: The Saga made over ₦636 million.
More recently, including with A Tribe Called Judah, she has focused on stories that tackle the ethnic divide in the country, a subject that rose to the top of the public consciousness in 2023, a highly heated election year, in which she entered in political arena with her campaign for deputy governor of Lagos.
A Tribe Called Judah follows the lives of five brothers of the same mother, but with fathers of different ethnic groups, as they plan to rob a small mall with their mother’s help. But they are faced with armed robbers upon arriving.
The cast includes Akindele as the mother, Jide Kene Achufusi as Emeka Judah, Timini Egbuson as Pere Judah, Uzee Usman as Adamu Judah, Tobi Makinde as Shina Judah, and Olumide Oworu as Ejiro Judah.
A Tribe Called Judah is also currently showing in the UK.
