Charles Okpaleke: Why I’m remaking Nollywood classics

Charles Okpaleke says he is remaking Nollywood classics so as to safeguard historical events.

The filmmaker spoke to BBC Igbo about how he became the first to explore movie remaking in Nollywood.

Okpaleke expressed concern that many historical events as represented in Nollywood classics are being relegated by successive generations of Nigerians, hence it became important to retell the classics as a sort of maintenance.

“I grew up watching Nigerian movies. As a child, there were certain things I wanted to change. As an adult now, I see myself in the position to recreate them and maintain these titles because of the gap in history,” he said.

“A lot of history is basically being washed away in Nigeria. If we don’t tell our stories, a generation will pass and people won’t know that things like these happened. Next year, we’re commencing a story on King Jaja of Opobo.

“It’s a story on the slave trade. We obtained the right to tell the story. In Nigeria, they hadn’t done any remakes and there was no reason why I couldn’t be the first to do it. That’s how the journey started.”

In 2015, Charles Okpaleke acquired the rights to ‘Living in Bondage’ from Kenneth Nnebue for a remake.

He also acquired the rights to remake three other Nollywood classics including ‘Rattle Snake’, ‘Nneka the Pretty Serpent’, and ‘Glamour Girls’ through his production company Play Network Africa.

Before 2015, he was into nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, and other smaller businesses all within entertainment.

“[I’m making] legit money. I grew up in a very rich family. My father wasn’t poor. I own the largest chain of nightclubs in Nigeria. I started when I was 24 and I’ve been in business for 14 years,” the filmmaker added.