Jide Kosoko, the veteran Nigerian actor and filmmaker, says he is in debt after his film, ‘Eleko: Oba Esugbayi’, failed to recover its production cost of over N300 million at the cinema.
In a recent interview on African A-List, Kosoko said investors provided the money to produce the film. They expected returns on their investment. However, the movie failed to generate enough revenue to cover its production expenses.
“My film ‘Eleko: Oba Esugbayi’ that recently came out and we took to the cinemas, cost us over N300 million. Do I have 300 million? You should know that some people gave it to me and it was not that they dashed me; they invested in it and we took the film to the cinemas,” he said.
Kosoko said the film’s earnings were insufficient to recover the money spent on production. The little revenue generated was shared among those involved.
“Different things happened, and we did not earn our money back. The little that was earned was split. As I am, if you hear someone with debt dancing around their neck, it is me.”
His disclosure highlights the financial risks of releasing films in Nigerian cinemas. High production costs do not always guarantee enough ticket sales to recover investments.
The revelation comes weeks after Ramsey Nouah, another Nigerian actor and filmmaker, said taking films to cinemas is not always a sound financial decision.
Nouah said only a small fraction of films released in cinemas recover their production costs and make profits. He added that many producers fail to recoup their investments despite spending heavily on advertising and promotion.
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