Actor Olaiya Igwe says Funke Akindele didn’t receive half of her billions‑naira box office

Even though Funke Akindele’s film pulled in over ₦1 billion at the cinemas, the actress didn’t actually receive half of that amount.

Veteran actor Olaiya Igwe pointed out why the big numbers we hear about often don’t reflect what the producers earn.

“You hear about box office figures but most people don’t know that the money doesn’t go directly to the producer. The cinema will still deduct their percentage,” he explained.

In Nigeria, box office revenue is shared among several parties. First, government taxes such as VAT and entertainment levies are subtracted. Then, cinema operators who screen the film take a portion, leaving a net amount that is split with the distributor. Even after that, the producer doesn’t receive the distributor’s full share; fees and marketing costs are usually deducted first.

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Industry insiders say that after all these deductions, producers often end up with only 30–40% of the gross earnings, meaning a headline figure of ₦1 billion can translate into much less for the film’s creators.

The system shows that while big box office numbers bring fame and attention, they don’t always mean a correspondingly large paycheck for producers.