He stated that he initially wanted to make the movie a series, but Netflix told him to make a movie first, and if it became a success, a series would be developed.

Afolayan made this known in an interview with Guardian UK published on Friday.

The filmmaker said, “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.”

‘Anikulapo’, set in the 17th century ancient Oyo kingdom, premiered on Netflix on September 30, 2022.

A week after its premiere, the movie became the most-watched non-English film on Netflix, with a cumulative 8.7m streaming hours.

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,” Afolayan said.

The movie, which was acted in Yoruba language, features A-list actors and actresses such as Kunle Remi, Yinka Quadri, Bimbo Ademoye, Sola Sobowale, and a host of many others.

Speaking on the repeated snub from the Nigeria Oscars Selection Committee, Afolayan stated that he did not understand the committee’s decision not to pick his movie for the Oscars.

He said, “I don’t even care about it anymore. 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.

“Honestly, I’m over it because if Aníkúlápó weren’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?’”

Last week,Afolayan expressed optimism over the decision of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences to give the NOSC another chance to make a submission for the 2023 Oscars award.

However, the committee failed to pick any Nigerian movie as they maintained that none was eligible.

Unlike the original ultra-violent fictional show from South Korea, which became one of the biggest-ever hits on Netflix last year, losing contestants would not be killed.

“With the largest cast in reality TV history, 456 real players will enter the game in pursuit of a life-changing cash prize of $4.56 million,” the streaming platform said on a site set up to look for candidates.

“Squid Game: The Challenge” is looking for English speakers from around the globe, aged at least 21 and free to travel for up to a month in early 2023.

“The stakes are high, but in this game, the worst fate is going home empty-handed,” the platform promises.

Describing the new reality show as its “biggest-ever social experiment,” Netflix says players will compete “in a series of heart-stopping games.”

The original fictional series was seen as a biting satire on modern capitalism, with contestants drawn from the fringes of society to play children’s games for the chance to win big sums of money, with the threat of being killed if they lose.

The new announcement came shortly after Netflix confirmed that a second season of the “Squid Game” was on the way.

In April, its creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, said the follow-up would not be ready until 2024.

The Post reported that 46-year-old Bunuel who was head of documentaries for the global streamer and now helms programming at French state broadcaster France Télévisions, allegedly assaulted his wife, writer and socialite Maggie Kim, in the US in 2017, according to court documents.

Kim had in the 2017 court papers alleged that Bunuel raped her in the US, 10 days after filing for divorce.

The French-born grandson of famed filmmaker Luis Bunuel is being charged with felony rape of Kim including one on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, and the warrant for his arrest is still active.

Court documents said Kim who lives between Los Angeles and France, claimed she was left “in actual fear of her life” and struggled to escape after Bunuel allegedly told her he wanted to hurt her.

Bunuel currently has custody of their two children and is now living with them in France. Kim however said he will not let her bring the children who also have the dual US and French citizenship back to the US.

Court papers seen by The Post were filed at Dukes County Superior Court in Massachusetts in the related civil lawsuit last year, and it read;  “As a result of the willful and/or malicious conduct of the Defendant, the plaintiff sustained abrasions and contusions to her neck and body. In addition, the plaintiff suffered mental and emotional anguish, nervousness, increased heart rhythm, shortness of breath and increased blood pressure, some or all of which are likely to be permanent in nature. As a further result of the willful and/or malicious conduct of Defendant, Plaintiff has been and will be unable to engage in personal and family, leisure and social activities as she did prior to the incidents, all of which has and will cause her loss.”

The couple who got married from 2007 until 2017 when they separated, are still not legally divorced.

The former Netflix executive got custody of their children from a French court, and it was also learnt that in April, a Massachusetts judge dismissed Kim’s civil suit and ruled that a French court could oversee the rape case that allegedly happened in Martha’s Vineyard.

Kim through her lawyer, Ryan McGuigan is attempting to overturn the decision in court. McGuigan said told The Post; “It seems that Bunuel is using his arrest warrant as an excuse to prevent Miss Kim from taking her children back to the US when they are US citizens. Even more shocking is that a judge in Massachusetts has dismissed Miss Kim’s civil claims of sexual battery that occurred on Martha’s Vineyard as the judge ruled he thought that she could bring this claim in France. The court decided that it was more convenient for the case to be brought to a foreign country, where the rape did not actually occur. We disagree. It appears Bunuel committed the sexual assault on Martha’s Vineyard after he had surreptitiously filed divorce papers in France. Martha’s Vineyard has long been a vacation destination of billionaire playboys, impaired senators and ex-presidents. The Public could interpret it to mean that the powerful and the privileged on Martha’s Vineyard continue to receive preferential treatment when they abuse the underprivileged. What the Public could interpret from this case is that it is acceptable for someone to come to Martha’s Vineyard [to] commit a crime and get away with it.”

This was contained in a statement by the Netflix Director of Licensing and Co-Productions in Africa, Ben Amadasun and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria.

The three anticipated Nigerian films by some of Nigeria’s prolific filmmakers; Mo Abudu, Kunle Afolayan and Kemi Adetiba – are set to premiere on Netflix.

The movies include Òlòtūré, the story of a young female journalist who goes undercover as a prostitute to expose a human trafficking syndicate.

Òlòtūré is part of Netflix’s partnership with Mo Abudu and her production company, Ebonylife. Directed by Kenneth Gyang, it is expected to launch globally on October 2, 2020.

Also, “Citation”, a movie directed by Kunle Afolayan and produced by Golden Effects Pictures, will launch globally on November 6, 2020.

King of Boys II the sequel to Kemi Adetiba’s 2018 crime thriller will also launch globally in the first half of 2021.

Amadasun said, “These Netflix Original films demonstrate how we’re building a home for the best-in-class Nigerian content for our members in Nigeria and beyond.

“It is amazing to see how Nigerian films and series resonate with audiences around the world. By making it easy for people to watch films and shows from other countries, we can help them build empathy and develop a shared understanding of the world.”

Meanwhile, Dorothy Ghettuba, the Lead for African Originals at Netflix, noted that the new series and films were at different stages of production while others were ready to premiere.

Show director, co-writer, and producer Ava DuVernay took to Twitter to thank the real-life series subjects Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise who have since been dubbed The Exonerated Five.

DuVernay also picked up writing and directing noms for the series, while Jharrel Jerome, Aunjanue Ellis, Niecy Nash, Asante Black, John Leguizamo, and Michael K. Williams were among the series stars recognized for their acting performance.

When They See Us is one of the most popular series on the streaming platform, showing up on more than 23 million accounts worldwide.

Afolayan made this known during an interview on the sideline of the French- Nigerian Cinema Days holding from July 2 – 3 at the Alliance Francaise, Ikoyi, Lagos .

He said “I wish to inform you that Netflix has acquired Mokalik and some other of my films”

He added that the company has not announced when the films would be released on the platform.

In a clip of the episode, Kanye said “I wouldn’t be able to explain that as much just because, you know, I’m not a doctor. I can just tell you what I’m feeling at the time, and I feel a heightened connection with the universe when I’m ramping up. It is a health issue. it’s like a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle. And if someone has a sprained ankle, you’re not going to push on him more. With us, once our brain gets to a point of spraining, people do everything to make it worse. You have this moment where you feel everyone wants to kill you. You pretty much don’t trust anyone. When you’re in this state, you’re hyper-paranoid about everything, everyone. This is my experience, other people have different experiences. Everyone now is an actor. Everything’s a conspiracy. You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you’re being recorded. You feel all these things. They have this moment where they put you, they handcuff you, they drug you, they put you on the bed, and they separate you from everyone you know. everyone you know. That’s something that I am so happy that I experienced myself so I can start by changing that moment.”