Nigerian filmmaker and actress Funke Akindele and film director Tunde Olaoye have emerged as the top-performing Nollywood directors at the Nigerian box office in 2025.
StatiSense, a Nigerian and African data and visualisation company, disclosed this in a tweet on its X page on Wednesday.
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The company said the ranking was based on data from the Nigeria Box Office Yearbook, which tracks the performance of films released in the country.
According to StatiSense, films directed by Akindele and Olaoye generated a combined ₦1.320 billion at the Nigerian box office in 2025, placing them at the top of the ranking.
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Other ranked directors
Film producer and director Adebayo Tijani followed in second place with films that grossed ₦1.159 billion, while Tope Adebayo ranked third with ₦852 million.
Yehi Morafa, popularly known as Film Boy, came fourth, with his films generating ₦522 million.
Actress and filmmaker Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi ranked fifth with ₦480 million, followed by filmmaker and director Kayode Kasum, whose films grossed ₦422 million.
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Actor and filmmaker Muyiwa Ademola occupied the seventh position with ₦419 million, while Biodun Stephen ranked eighth with ₦341 million.
Adeoluwa Owu, a film director and cinematographer, came ninth with ₦248 million, while actor and filmmaker Daniel Etim Effiong ranked tenth with ₦193 million.
StatiSense said the top 10 directors were attached to films that collectively generated at least ₦5.97 billion at the Nigerian box office in 2025.
Funke Akindele
Among Akindele’s notable projects in 2025 was “Behind the Scenes”, which she produced and released theatrically on 12 December. The drama follows Aderonke Faniran, a real estate entrepreneur portrayed by Scarlet Gomez, and enjoyed a remarkable box-office run.
Akindele also produced “Finding Me”, a film that examines love, personal growth and the challenge of maintaining balance. Amazon Prime Video released the movie on its streaming platform on 16 March 2025.
In January, PREMIUM TIMES reported that “Behind the Scenes” had crossed the ₦2 billion mark at the box office, making it the first Nollywood production to reach the milestone.
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The achievement further extended Akindele’s remarkable box-office streak. In 2023, “Battle on Buka Street” became Nollywood’s highest-grossing film after earning ₦640 million locally, while it also recorded more than $61,000 from cinema screenings in the United States.
Her winning run continued in 2024 when “A Tribe Called Judah” crossed ₦1 billion at the box office. “Everybody Loves Jenifa” later surpassed that figure, grossing ₦1.88 billion and setting a new West African box-office record.
Other films
Olaoye directed “Singleness Is Bliss”, which was produced by Fisayo Ajisola-Borokinni. Abraham-Ajeyemi has directed films including “Oversabi Aunty”, “Street Genius” and “Monetised Marriage”.
Etim, meanwhile, made his directorial debut with the crime thriller “The Herd”, which opened in cinemas across the country on 17 October 2025.
Ademola directed “Orí Rebirth”, a spiritual drama that was released on 1 May 2025. Stephen has also directed several films, including the cinema releases “Labake Olododo”, “Aso Ebi Diaries”, and “Unclaimed”, as well as several direct-to-digital and YouTube productions released on her platform.
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