Nollywood actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele has achieved a significant commercial milestone with her latest motion picture, Behind The Scenes, which recorded gross earnings in excess of ₦200 million during its opening weekend.
The film, which addresses the societal issue commonly referred to as “black tax,” stars Scarlet Gomez in the lead role and features an ensemble cast including Iyabo Ojo, Funke Akindele, Destiny Etiko, Tobi Bakre, Uche Montana, Uzor Arukwe, Ini Dima-Okojie, Adebowale “Mr Macaroni,” Ibrahim Chatta, Kamo State, and reality television personalities Handi and Wanni Danbaki, among others.
In a statement issued on Monday, the film’s distributor, FilmOne Entertainment, confirmed that Behind The Scenes recorded the largest opening weekend of 2025, becoming the first Nollywood production this year to surpass the ₦200 million threshold within its opening frame. The distributor further described the film as a five-time opening-weekend record holder and the title with the highest weekend admissions recorded in 2025.
The motion picture held advance screenings on December 10 and 11, prior to its nationwide theatrical release on December 12.
Announcing the achievement via Instagram, FilmOne Entertainment attributed the milestone to audience support and attendance, noting that the film broke multiple opening-weekend records and secured the biggest opening of the year. The distributor also confirmed that the film remains in active cinema circulation across Nigeria.
This development further consolidates Ms. Akindele’s standing as a dominant force at the Nigerian box office. Her previous release, Everybody Loves Jenifa, set a new industry benchmark by recording the highest opening weekend in Nollywood history, surpassing her earlier record established by A Tribe Called Judah, which opened with ₦113 million.
Everybody Loves Jenifa subsequently achieved an admission count of 38,353, inclusive of advance screenings, and went on to become the highest-grossing Nollywood film to date, generating over ₦1.8 billion in domestic revenue, in addition to earnings from international markets. The film crossed the ₦1 billion mark in December 2024 and sustained its theatrical run into early 2025, setting unprecedented box office records within West African cinema.#newsafro_
