Nigerian actor Kunle Afolayan, says he once said that his top-grossing movie, “Anikulapo,” would do better than “Game of Thrones.”

Home Box Office produced the American fantasy drama television series “Game of Thrones” (HBO). It started on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and ended in May 2019, after eight seasons and 73 episodes.

The project received enormous acclaim worldwide and dominated conversations among film enthusiasts for years.

In an interview with the Guardian UK, Afolayan discussed the creation of “Anikulapo” and its subsequent success.

The filmmaker stated that he originally intended to develop the film into a series, but Netflix advised him to first make a film and see if it succeeds before releasing 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.”

Despite its success, the actor also minimized the Nigeria Official Selection Committee’s (NOSC) decision not to nominate the film for an Oscar in 2023.

“I don’t even care about it any more. 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?”

YNaija