Nigerian reality TV star, Pere Egbi has taken to social media to weigh in on some challenges with Nigerian cinemas.
According to him, he invested N200 million in his film, The Silent Intruder, he personally earned a N8 million profit from the movie, saying it made just N53 million at the box office.
This is his response to Actor Femi Branch’s claim that there is favouritism in the Nigerian cinemas. The actor warned cinemas to desist from promoting Nollywood movies above others, as reported by multiple online medias.
Joining his colleague to address this issue, he lamented that Nigerian cinemas is fond of suggesting movies to movie lovers, saying it is totally wrong.
Speaking further, Pere shares his own personal experience where he couldn’t recover the money he invested in a movie.
“Dear Femi Branch, I came across your video, and I want to say thank you for speaking out on this issue. Every single thing you said is pure facts. Honestly, I was planning to wait until the end of January 2025 before making any moves, but at this point, I’m saying, “F*** it, let’s go!”
“This nonsense some cinemas do—hiding films, poor screen times—it happened to The Silent Intruder, my film. I spent over 150 million naira of my personal funds just on production, borrowed another 11 million naira from a friend in London, and still ended up being shown shege by cinemas. Imagine spending over 200 million naira (pre-production to post-production), and the film only made 53 million naira in cinemas. Out of that, I personally got just 8 million naira.
“It’s been almost 11 months since its release, and I’ve seen no Netflix or Prime Video deal. Meanwhile, films that premiered alongside mine are already streaming. Because of all this mess, I had to leave Nigeria and return to America to work, just so I can pay back the kind-hearted woman who lent me the money.
“At this point, I don’t care about being blacklisted. If nothing comes through by the end of January, I’ll release the film on YouTube myself. Enough is enough.”
