Entertainment
Kemi Adetiba Crowns AY As Nollywood’s ‘Box Office King’
King Of Boys’ director, Kemi Adetiba, has crowned comedian and film producer, Ayo AY Makun, the Nollywood Box Office King.
Adetiba took to her Instagram account to make the pronouncement on AY after the release of the poster for the sequel to his 2018 hit, ‘Merry Men.’
AY shared one of the two official posters to ‘Merry Men 2’ on October 29 and Adetiba took to the comment section to pronounce AY the box office king.
The pronouncement humbled AY, who replied Adetiba by calling her the ‘King Of Boys’.
For the sequel to the 2018 hit, AY paired rave actress, Regina Daniels and BBNaija’s Alex with Iretiola Doyle, Nancy Isime, and Linda Osifo for lead female roles.
In the same vein, AY, Falz, Ramsey Nouah, and Jim Iyke return as the ‘Merry Men’. They are also joined by the fifth Merry Man, Williams Uchemba.
‘Merry Men’ tells the story of four Abuja’s most eligible and notorious bachelors — Remi Martins (Falz the Bad Guy), Amaju Abioritsegbemi (Ayo Makun), Ayo Alesinloye (Ramsey Nouah) and Naz Okigbo (Jim Iyke).
In 2018, AY’s film, ‘Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons’ grossed a total of N230 million while Adetiba’s ‘King Of Boys’ grossed over N245 million.
Meanwhile, AY has achieved success on the list of Nigeria’s highest-grossing films of all time with four different movies grossing over N786 million between 2014 and 2018. His films include ‘Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons’ in 2018, ‘10 days in Sun City’ in 2017, ‘A Trip to Jamaica’ in 2016, and ‘30 days in Atlanta’ in 2014.
R&B star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has recounted the early-career challenges she faced, revealing that she was once booed out of the stage while performing at a school event.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmen, the Crazy Tings crooner shared that she wasn’t only booed but was also harassed with plastic bottles.
“I remember one time I was going to perform at my school as an up-and-coming singer and I thought I was going to receiving a standing ovation.
“But I got booed. They even threw plastic bottles at me,” she recalled.
Tems explained that despite the embarrassing incident and other such rejections, she remained determined to pursue a career in music.
The Tide Entertainment reports that Tems admitted that some of the initial rejections she faced could be due to her conviction to stick to her originality instead of doing covers or familiar sounds like most of her peers.
The Grammy-winning singer said looking back now, she is glad that she didn’t compromise her style despite the initial pressures.
A close associate of late singer Mohbad, Primeboy, has appealed for the artiste’s burial nearly three years after his death.
According to him, Mohbad’s body remains in the mortuary since September 12, 2023, pending burial arrangements.
The Tide Entertainment reports that in a statement Primeboy urged the family, public, and government to permit the burial, stating, “It’s been almost three years since Mohbad left us. His body is still in the mortuary. I’m begging the family, I’m begging the public, I’m begging the government, please let’s bury our brother. He deserves a befitting burial.”
It would be recalled that Mohbad’s death sparked public outrage, protests, and investigations. Ongoing autopsy examinations, police inquiries, and legal proceedings have delayed burial arrangements amid family disagreements and public scrutiny.