”If a Nigerian was the one that made Black Panther, it would have failed” filmmaker, Lancelot Imasuen, says

Nollywood producer says the Hollywood blockburster, Black Panther, would have failed if it was produuced and directed by a Nigerian. Speaking in an exclusive chat with LIB earlier today, Imasuen said:

”If a Nigerian was the one that made Black Panther, it will fail because the Nigerian apathy will kill it. They will say it is another spiderman. They will say it is nonsense. Nigerians will be the ones that will first spoil it”.

”In our closet, we also talk about it that the cinemas should also be mindful of what they take from Nollywood because we are having a problem. Everybody is talking about Black Panther. Even Atiku went to watch Black Panther but I have asked people when they come out of the cinemas, if they understand the foreign film they went to watch? Many people are just following trend. A lot of people do not understand the movie, they just went to watch because their friend went to watch.

”It is not all kinds of films that should really make the cinemas. There are films that are deliberately made for home viewing, internet viewing, private view. Cinema films should have a lot of high pitch and entertainment. I am strongly with Rita Dominic that it is not all films that should be taken to the cinemas. The cinema operators should also have an internal mechanism to identify the movies that should be shown. The question will now be what are the yardstick for measuring films that should be in the cinemas?

”99.9% of movies that get to the cinemas in Nigeria fail because they cannot make back their returns. They use hype, Instagram and social media razzmattazz to cover it up. Did you see the advert of Black Panther on any Nigerian TV? The actors are not doing meet and greet in the cinemas. How come, for three weeks now, the cinemas are being flooded? Who advertised the film? Several of Nollywood movies are failing because they cannot meet the small budgets that was used to make them. No Nigerian film has ever made great returns in the cinemas. Most of the movies end up in the red carpet. People just go to the premiere to take selfies and that is the end.

”What Rita said is not out of place. She did not just put it well. There is no yardstick for measuring movies that should make the cinema”he said

Black Panther has so far made over $900 million in the cinemas.

Source: Linda Ikeji’s blog