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Veteran Nollywood actor and filmmaker Jide Kosoko has revealed that he is in debt after his film, Eleko: Oba Esugbayi, failed to recover its production cost of more than N300 million from its cinema run.
Kosoko made the disclosure during an interview with African A-List published on October 17, with a clip from the conversation subsequently gaining attention on social media.
The veteran actor explained that the money used to produce the historical film came from investors who expected returns on their investments rather than a personal donation to finance the project.
According to him, the film, which premiered in cinemas in March, did not generate enough revenue to cover its production expenses, leaving the investors unable to recover their money fully.
Kosoko said the limited revenue generated from the cinema release was shared among those involved in the project, further complicating efforts to recoup the production costs.
“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.
Film fails to recover production cost
Kosoko said several factors affected the film’s financial performance, resulting in earnings that fell short of the amount invested in its production.
He explained that the money raised was not his personal wealth, stressing that the investors had committed their funds with the expectation that the cinema release would generate sufficient revenue.
The actor added that the revenue realised from the film was divided among those involved, but was insufficient to repay the full investment.
“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,” he said.
His comments highlight the financial risks associated with film production and cinema distribution, where substantial upfront investments do not necessarily translate into box-office success.
For filmmakers who depend on external investors, disappointing cinema earnings can leave significant funding gaps, particularly when production budgets run into hundreds of millions of naira.
Kosoko’s disclosure has also drawn attention to the financial pressures that can accompany ambitious film projects in Nollywood, where producers must balance production costs, distribution arrangements and audience demand.
The actor did not provide further details about the amount of debt he currently owes or the specific factors that contributed to the film’s underperformance.
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