Industry Stakeholders, movie lovers and some members of the Press where present at the Signature Lounge of the Filmhouse Imax Cinemas to celebrate the record breaking feat of award-winning entrepreneur Ayo Makun, whose sophomore film ‘A Trip To Jamaica’ has impressively decimated the feat of his debut movie, 30 Days in Atlanta!
Announcing the feat, the Executive Director of Filmone Distribution Mr. Moses Babatope informed the excited guests that A Trip to Jamaica, the latest instalment in the adventures of Akpos, which comedian, actor, and media mogul, AY both produced and starred in, has taken over N168 million at the box office and was showing no signs of slowing down with the movie still showing in cinemas nationwide
He informed the guests that at the A Trip To Jamaica had beaten the box office revenues of all the big budget Hollywood Titles released in 2016 including BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SUICIDE SQUAD, LONDON HAS FALLEN, GODS OF EGYPT, TRANSPORTER, DOCTOR STRANGE, TARZAN, MAGNIFICENT 7 and CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE.
AY Trip To Jamaica which was Produced by AY himself, directed by Robert O. Peters and distributed by FilmOne Distribution Limited, has set new benchmarks in Nollywood as the first film to hit N35 million in its first weekend and the first film to hit N62 million in in its first week. He added that the movie was currently the fastest film to get N100m – 17 days, Fastest film to N150m – 6 weeks and the biggest film of 2016 so far to name a few.
The evening ended with a presentation of awards by the Group MD/CEO, FilmHouse Cinema and FilmOne Distribution, Mr. Kene Mkparu to all stakeholders who had contributed towards the success of the movie’s record breaking box office run. Ayo Makun (AY) received the award for Most Successful Actor and Producer In Nollywood Cinema Release History, while Corporate World Entertainment Limited received the award for Best Marketing Campaign for the Celebrity Football Match initiative. Silverbird Ikeja received the award for Highest Grossing Cinema, while Best Cinema Marketing Campaign went to VIVA Cinemas for the University Tour initiative.
These feats are a clear indication that Nigeria’s entertainment industry is a cash cow waiting to be milked and the happy filmmaker emphasized this when in his emotional speech he enjoined all would be filmmakers not to allow themselves to be discouraged by the comments of distractors. “They also told me I wouldn’t succeed in this business but when true passion is blessed by God’s grace, only success can follow.
