Nigerian actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele has said Everybody Loves Jenifa, her 2024 release, is the most expensive movie she has ever produced. She made the remark in an interview with CNN Africa journalist Larry Madowo, where she spoke about her career and the budgets behind her films, according to Independent Newspaper Nigeria.
Akindele traced the cost to the logistics of moving her full cast and crew to Ghana for part of the shoot. The production also filmed at Safari Valley Resort in Ghana, and once the team returned to Nigeria she spent further sums on building sets of her own.
She said she would rather construct sets than film inside other people's houses. Even with the outlay, she described the film's run in cinemas and on streaming platforms as a success. "It was successful in cinemas and on streaming platforms. It was a good one for us," she said, as reported by Independent Newspaper Nigeria.
Everybody Loves Jenifa arrived in December 2024 and belongs to the Jenifa series that began with the 2008 film Jenifa. Its commercial showing strengthened Akindele's standing as one of Nollywood's most prominent filmmakers.
Why it matters
Akindele's disclosure puts a figure-free but concrete marker on what a top-tier Nollywood production can involve. Travel with an entire cast and crew, a luxury resort location and purpose-built sets are costs that go well beyond the modest budgets long associated with the industry.
Her comments also show how established Nigerian filmmakers are thinking about production value. Building sets rather than borrowing real homes is a choice about control and consistency, and it carries a price. That Akindele is willing to absorb it suggests confidence that the market, both in cinemas and on streaming, can return the investment.
The interview also places her career in front of an international audience through CNN Africa, at a time when Nigerian films are drawing more attention from global streaming platforms and distributors.
A franchise that keeps paying off
The Jenifa character has followed Akindele for more than fifteen years. The 2008 original set up a story world that later expanded into a television series and further films, and Everybody Loves Jenifa is the latest entry in that line.
That longevity matters commercially. A franchise with a built-in audience gives a filmmaker a stronger basis for spending heavily, because the name already carries recognition. Akindele's account of the budget suggests she treated the 2024 film as a flagship project rather than a routine addition to the series.
Independent Newspaper Nigeria reports that the movie performed well in cinemas and on streaming, though the interview did not include specific box office or revenue figures. Without those numbers, the size of the return on the production spend is not publicly known.
Sets, locations and the cost of control
The two biggest cost drivers Akindele identified were travel and set construction. Shooting abroad with a full cast and crew multiplies expenses through flights, accommodation and the logistics of moving a large team. Safari Valley Resort, the Ghana location she named, added the cost of filming at a premium property.
Her decision to build sets back in Nigeria reflects a preference she stated plainly: she does not want to depend on other people's homes as filming locations. That approach gives a production more control over how scenes look and how the schedule runs, but it shifts spending from location fees to construction.
Akindele did not give a budget figure in the interview, and no independent cost estimate has been reported. Her claim that the film is her most expensive is her own assessment of her filmography.
What to watch
Akindele remains one of the most closely watched figures in Nigerian film, and her next production choices, including whether she continues the Jenifa series or moves to new material, will show how far she is prepared to push spending. Any future box office or streaming data for Everybody Loves Jenifa would also give a clearer picture of whether the investment paid off.
