Nollywood powerhouse Funke Akindele has achieved a historic international milestone with her latest cinematic masterpiece Behind the Scenes. The film recorded a massive opening weekend in North America, grossing a total of $301,505 across Canada and the United States.
Data released on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, shows the movie earned $111,256 in Canada and $190,249 in the U.S. within just three days. This performance solidifies Akindele’s position as a global force, following her unprecedented N2.1 billion run at the West African box office.
The film, which features a star studded cast including Destiny Etiko, Ibrahim Chatta, and Tobi Bakre, explored a heavy production budget exceeding N1 billion. The plot follows the life of Aderonke “Ronky-Fella” Faniran, a real estate mogul whose extreme generosity begins to unravel her personal life. The North American success is particularly significant as it comes amidst a three year winning streak where Akindele has ranked number one at the African box office, accumulating a staggering total domestic gross of N5.39 billion.
Behind the Scenes has now officially overtaken Everybody Loves Jenifa to become the highest grossing film of all time in West Africa. Distributed by FilmOne Entertainment under the Funke Ayotunde Akindele Network (FAAN), the movie has managed to overcome rising production costs and inflation to set a new industry benchmark.
Despite the celebration, Akindele has issued a stern warning against piracy, urging fans in the diaspora not to record or share clips from the two hour and 24 minute drama to protect its commercial longevity.
With this latest achievement, Akindele further cements her status as Africa’s highest grossing director, producer, and screenwriter. Industry analysts suggest that the strong North American reception could open doors for wider theatrical distributions of Nollywood content in Europe and the UK later this year. As the film continues its run in major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Accra, the global momentum is expected to push its total cumulative earnings to unprecedented heights for an African production.
