Funke Akindele’s EverybodyLovesJenifa breaks record, earns N206m in opening weekend

At the Nigerian movie office, award-winning actress Funke Akindele’s most recent film, “EverybodyLovesJenifa” (ELJ), has seen unheard-of success.

The movie, which was released on December 13, 2024, made an incredible N206 million on its first weekend of release.

Funke Akindele expressed sincere thanks in the caption of the photo, writing: “Thank you Lord!!!” Nigeria, thank you! Many thanks.

Compared to her “A Tribe Called Judah” performance from the previous year, ELJ’s launch Friday brought in N45.22 million, a 30% increase in first-day admissions.

With 38,353 tickets sold on its first weekend, the movie had the largest opening weekend gross in Nollywood’s history and the biggest opening weekend of the year.

Akindele’s Instagram post claims that ELJ made N87.8 million in a single day, breaking the previous record for the highest-grossing single day in Nollywood history.

The movie’s global reach has been further expanded with its international premiere in 30 countries, which was released by Nile Group Entertainment.

Even though ELJ didn’t screen at Genesis Cinemas and missed a portion of the day at Silverbird Cinemas, they still managed to achieve the remarkable statistics.