Omo Ghetto: The Saga


Omo Ghetto: The Saga also known as Omo Ghetto 2 is a 2020 Nigerian gangster comedy film co-directed by Funke Akindele and JJC Skillz. The film stars Funke Akindele, Chioma Akpota, Nancy Isime, Eniola Badmus, Bimbo Thomas, Deyemi Okanlawon and Mercy Aigbe in the lead roles. This was the second film in the Omo Ghetto franchise and it was also the sequel to the 2010 trilogy film Omo Ghetto. The film had its theatrical release coinciding with Christmas on 25 December 2020 and was opened to extremely positive reviews from critics. The film became a box office success and surpassed Fate of Alakada as the highest-grossing Nigerian film for the year 2020. As of 26 January 2021, when the film grossed ₦468 million at the box office, it surpassed the record of the 2016 film The Wedding Party to become the highest ever grossing film in the Nigerian film industry.

Cast

Production

Akindele confirmed the production of the sequel in February 2020 with a throwback photo of herself along with Eniola Badmus in an Instagram post. The principal photography of the film also commenced in February 2020. The film project also marked the maiden collaboration between Funke Akindele and her then husband JJC Skillz as co-directors of the film. Some of the portions of the film were shot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the film production was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Popular singer Naira Marley was roped into playing a cameo appearance in the film and made his film acting debut through this film. Yemi Alade, the singer, also made her acting debut through this film as she landed a pivotal role.

Box office

The film grossed over ₦189 million in the opening week of its release and historically became the first Nollywood film ever to gross over ₦99 million in its opening weekend, surpassing the previous record set by The Wedding Party 2. In its second week, the movie continued breaking box office records by grossing over ₦132.4 million and firmly staying at the top of the Nigerian box office and bringing its 2-week gross to a record breaking ₦322 million and placing it as the fourth highest grossing Nigerian movie of all time.
In its third week, despite seeing a drop of 43% from the previous week, Omo Ghetto still topped the box office and grossed ₦75.4 million bringing its total cumulative to ₦398.5 million just after three weeks. Omo Ghetto was so popular that it accounted for about 65% of the box office in Nigeria. Omo Ghetto kept dominating the Nigerian box office, raking up ₦45.9 million to top the box office. It brought the cumulative box office figure to ₦444.5 million, placing it as the second highest grossing Nollywood film of all time after just four weeks. Omo Ghetto the saga is currently the highest grossing Nigerian movie of all time with ₦468,036,300 in just over a month
Omo Ghetto continued dominating the box office in its fifth week grossing ₦35.7 million thus bringing its cumulative to ₦480.5 million and becoming the highest grossing Nollywod movie of all time despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The film continued to extend its record by becoming the first Nollywood movie to stay six consecutive weeks at the top of the box office, grossing an additional ₦31.5 million. It also historically became the first ever Nigerian film to gross ₦500 million in the Nollywood box office.
The film remained top at the box office in its seventh week, grossing an additional ₦27.3 million. bringing its cumulative to ₦539.6. Omo Ghetto topped the box office in its eighth, ninth and tenth week respectively becoming only the second movie in English-speaking West Africa to cross the ₦600 million mark after Black Panther.