Genevieve Nnaji's "Lionheart" movie eventually makes it to Nigerian cinemas

ayodele johnson

December 23, 2018 7:05 PM

After a short conflict over agreement and standards, "Lionheart", a movie directed by Genevieve Nnaji has been approved to feature in cinemas all over Nigeria.

In "Lionheart", Genevieve Nnaji acts the role of Adaeze, a calm executive working at a bus company, Lionheart Transport owned by her dad played by actor Pete Edochie.

The actress tweets about the development in a social media post displaying the locations where the film can be seen around the country.

According to reports, the movie crew earlier shared concerns about a challenge suggesting unfair play by marketing partners reportedly film distributors.

On Friday, September 7, 2018, Netflix announces that it has purchased the right to show the comedy to its audience worldwide. This seem an unfavourable news to cinema owners who would have loved a longer timeline to play it for their customers.

According to Patrick Lee who represents the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), Nnaji and her team failed to fulfill obligations to the body.

The rep confirms this in a report published by the Daily Trust News on Saturday, December 22, 2018.

"We expect the movie to come from a licenced distributor, we expect the movie to be given adequate run time in the cinemas before it is officially released on other platforms and also for our cinemas to be provided with adequate notice for the inclusion of the movie in an increasingly crowded calendar.

"It is clear from the approach taken by the Lionheart team that these processes were not adhered to and most of our members rightly refused to take the movie."

First original Netflix movie from Nigeria

"Lionheart" is Netflix's first original film from Nigeria. It showcases a rich list of actors including Pete Edochie, Onyeka Onwenu and Nkem Owoh.

In the movie, Genevieve Nnaji plays Adaeze, a calm executive working at a bus company, Lionheart Transport owned by her dad played by Edochie.

When the latter falls ill, both she and her rival (Kalu Egbui Ikeagwu) are passed over in favor of the uncle, played by Owoh.

According to Variety News, the script of the film is a joint effort between Nnaji and writers Chinny Onwugbenu, Ishaya Bako, Emil Garuba, and C.J. Obasi.

ayodele johnson