Kunle Afolayan says ‘Anikulapo would be bigger than Game of Thrones’

Kunle Afolayan, the actor, says he once told people that ‘Anikulapo’, his chart-topping movie, would be bigger than ‘Game of Thrones’.

‘Game of Thrones’, the American fantasy drama TV series, was produced by Home Box Office (HBO). It premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and concluded in May 2019, with 73 episodes broadcast over eight seasons.

The hit project enjoyed widespread reception across the globe and dominated discussions among movie lovers for years.

In an interview with the Guardian UK, Afolayan spoke on the production of ‘Anikulapo’ and the success enjoyed since it was released.

The filmmaker said he originally wanted to make the movie a series but Netflix told him to make a movie first and see if it succeeds before putting out a series.

“I’ve been working on Aníkúlápó for six years. Originally, I wanted to make a series but I shopped it and kept telling people that this movie would be bigger than Game of Thrones. Eventually, Netflix told me to make a movie first since I believed in the project that much and if it became a success, we’d develop a series,” he said.

“Right now, Netflix is the one urging me to start making the series. I knew we made a great film and that it’d start conversations, but I didn’t know it’d do as well as it has done.”

The actor also downplayed the decision of the Nigeria Official Selection Committee (NOSC) not to pick the movie for the 2023 Oscars despite its success.

“I don’t even care about it anymore. I don’t understand the decision and quite a number of the guys in there are people I’d call friends. For the second year running, they’re saying no film from Nigeria deserves to be presented – it makes no sense,” he said.

“Honestly, I’m over it because if Aníkúlápó wasn’t successful, they’d have said it wasn’t picked because of that reason. Now, it’s almost like, ‘How couldn’t you have presented this?”