Barely a week after its debut on global streaming platform, Netflix, ‘The Black Book’ has claimed the top spot worldwide.
According to Netflix’s data from September 18 to 24, the film accumulated a staggering 5.6 million views and an astounding 11.6 million watch hours, according to Nairametrics, which tracked the data on Flix Patrol, a global platform for video-on-demand charts and streaming ratings.
The Nollywood action thriller, co-wrotten by Bukunmi Ajakiye, produced by Lala Akindoju, and filmed by Yinka Edward, is said to be Nollywood’s first movie shot with a budget exceeding one million dollars.
According to the producers, the development of this Netflix original necessitated two years of script refinement, a year of pre-production, and an extensive 13-month filming period.
This action-adventure film traces the story of a mourning father seeking justice following his son’s murder at the hands of a corrupt group of police officers. It traces the inevitable scourge of corruption amongst top officials of oil and gas in the metropolitan city of Lagos and Kaduna. Alongside unknotting the puzzle of the question on corruption, the story drags along a fate of a hitman-turned-deacon whose past woes come haunting him.
The film casts talented actors like Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sam Dede, Alex Osifo, Iretiola Doyle, Ade Laoye,Bimbo Akintola, Patrick Doyle, Femi Branch, Olumide Oworu, Bimbo Manuel, Boki Ofodile, Nobert Young and Shaffy Bello amongst others.
An excited Effiong, who co-wrote and directed the film, wrote on his X (twitter) page, “I just got off the phone with Netflix. The Black Book is a global hit. The biggest film out of Nigeria on Netflix ever.”
‘The Black Book’ is rated TV-MA, an indication that it is intended for mature audiences due to its inclusion of smoking and graphic scenes of violence.
