Popular Nollywood actor, Kunle Afolayan has revealed that Netflix, a global streaming platform, wants him to produce a series from Anikulapo.
The award winning filmmaker, made this known today in an interview with Guardian UK, adding that he was sure ‘Anikulapo’ which he had been working on for six years would become a blockbuster.
‘Anikulapo’, set in the 17th century ancient Oyo kingdom, premiered on Netflix on September 30, 2022 and a week after its premiere, became the most-watched non-English film on Netflix, with a cumulative 8.7m streaming hours.
Kunle Afolayan who featured his seventeen year old daughter, Eyiyemi Afolayan in ‘Anikulapo’ said his initial plan was to make it into a series but Netflix prevailed on him to make it a feature film first and if the movie sold out, he could expand it into a series.
“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,” Afolayan said.
“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.
“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,” he added.
