King of Boys is a 2018 drama film that was written and directed by Kemi Adetiba. In King of Boys, Sola Sobowale plays the part of Alhaja Eniola Salami, a ruthless business woman who has fought her way to the top of the underworld and is now the King of Boys. Alhaja has plans for a political career. But one of her boys is threatening her rule, and she has not yet earned the respect of the political world. She realizes that the climb up from where she is will not be easy. King of Boys is a political thriller. It is the second film Kemi Adetiba has directed. In case you didn’t know who Kemi Adetiba is, she is a talented and upcoming filmmaker who wrote and directed her first film, The Wedding Party, in 2016.
The Wedding Party was an extremely successful film. It established Kemi’s name as someone to watch. In fact, it was the first Nigerian film to gross more than 400 million naira in the Nigerian box office. But Kemi’s name sent another shockwave through the Nigerian film industry when King of Boys grossed 200 million naira in just seven weeks. After its performance in the Nigerian box office, King of Boys became the 4th highest grossing Nollywood film of all time. The film was very well received by Nigerian audiences, with a lot of praise for Kemi Adetiba’s audacity in telling such a bold and divergent story. The plot is a good example of the very stimulating storylines that have been sprouting up all over Nollywood’s independent film scene recently.
Since early 2015, Netflix has been adding to its roster of Nigerian movies. One of Netflix’s most notable additions was on September 2018, when it acquired Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart – a Nollywood comedy which Genevieve Nnaji directed and starred in. This move made Genevieve’s Lionheart the first Netflix original film from Nigeria. Nigerians all over the world celebrated. It felt like a giant leap in global recognition for Africa’s Giant. Since then, a few other Nigerian films have been added to Netflix. In August, the Film One media company announced that King of Boys will soon join the roster of Nigerian films on Netflix.
The Africa Movie Academy Awards will hold on the 26th of October 2019. King of Boys has been nominated for eight awards – Best (African) Film, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Nigerian Film, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Reminisce, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Adesua Etomi, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Sola Sobowale, and Best Director for Kemi Adetiba. Kemi Adetiba has already started tweeting about her plans for King of Boys 2. There have been no formal announcements on what will happen next, but Toni Tones, the actress who played the part of young Eniola Salami, leaked some news to a follower on social media last week. In a response to one of her fans on Twitter, Toni Tones announced that a King of Boys series has been commissioned.
Apparently, the series will be a prequel – it will tell the backstory of Alhaja Eniola Salami’s life before the events in King of Boys. What this means is that fans of the film can look forward to even more of the exciting drama from King of Boys. Toni Tones did not give any more details, but now that we know this much, we can hope to hear more soon.
Sources:
Pulse NG
The Guardian NG
Qz
Trequitycap
The Jakarta Post
Konbini
Featured Image Source: King of Boys Movie – Youtube