Veteran Nollywood Actor Jide Kosoko Breaks Silence on Over N300m Film Loss

According to report by Vanguard on Friday, October 23, 2026, Veteran Nollywood actor and filmmaker Jide Kosoko has disclosed that he is facing debt after his latest movie, Eleko: Oba Esugbayi, failed to recover the more than N300 million invested in its production and cinema release.

Kosoko made the disclosure during a recent interview with African A-List, explaining that the money used to produce the movie came from investors who expected to make returns from the project.

He stressed that the funds were not given to him as financial assistance or a personal gift.

According to the veteran actor, the production cost exceeded N300 million, an amount he could not have provided from his personal resources.

He explained that investors contributed the money with the expectation that the movie would generate enough revenue to repay their investment and possibly yield profit when released in cinemas.

However, the film failed to meet those financial expectations.

Kosoko said the revenue generated from its cinema run was insufficient to recover the production expenses, while the limited income earned was shared among the stakeholders involved in the project.

He consequently described himself as someone carrying a significant debt as a result of the film’s poor financial performance.

Kosoko, however, clarified that his comments about being indebted should not be interpreted to mean that members of the production crew were owed salaries.

He indicated that those who worked on the movie had been paid, but the major problem was that the film did not generate the expected returns for him and the investors.

The filmmaker also acknowledged the enormous financial commitments involved in operating cinemas.

Responding to questions about how cinema revenue is distributed, he noted that cinema owners had made substantial investments in establishing and running their businesses.

Kosoko’s experience highlights the financial risks involved in Nigeria’s cinema business.

His concerns are similar to those previously raised by actor and filmmaker Ramsey Nouah, who argued that a cinema release does not automatically guarantee profit for movie producers.

Nouah has pointed out that only a small proportion of films released in cinemas eventually recover their production costs and make profits.

He noted that even after spending heavily on publicity and promotion, filmmakers can still struggle to recoup their investments.

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