‘Hijack ‘93,’ the most recent characteristic movie from Play Network Studios, has entered Netflix’s prestigious Top 10 with 3.2 million views inside its debut week.
Premiering on October 25, the movie claimed the ninth place globally, marking a milestone because the fourth Nollywood title of 2024 to interrupt into Netflix’s rankings.
‘Hijack ‘93’ joins ‘House of Ga’a,‘ ‘Òlòtūré: The Journey – Season 1,’ and ‘Tokunbo’ as a part of a yr that has seen Nollywood’s footprint increase on the worldwide streaming panorama.
The movie’s success provides one other world hit to Play Network Studios’ portfolio, following the acclaimed ‘Glamour Girls’ (2022) and ‘Blood Vessel’ (2023). The movie, produced by Play Network Studios and Native Media, was directed by Femi Oyeniran, a UK-based filmmaker, and portrays the gripping 1993 hijacking of a Nigerian plane.
Based on a real story, the plot facilities on a dramatic try by 4 younger Nigerian pro-democracy activists who sought to attract consideration to the annulment of the 1993 presidential election, believed to have been gained by the late Chief MKO Abiola.
A landmark collaboration, ‘Hijack ‘93’ obtained substantial assist from the British Film Institute (BFI) and the UK Department of International Trade (DIT), who’ve been more and more concerned in fostering co-productions between the UK and Nigeria.
The movie displays the rising worldwide curiosity in telling vital African tales and additional solidifies Nollywood’s standing on the worldwide stage.
What to know
Producer and Play Network CEO Charles Okpaleke has lengthy been devoted to crafting cinema that merges social consciousness with high-quality storytelling. In his imaginative and prescient, the movie supplies a “unique lens on a seminal event in Nigeria’s political history.”
Okpaleke, whose credit embrace Nollywood blockbusters akin to ‘Living in Bondage: Breaking Free,’ ‘Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story,’ and ‘Glamour Girls,’ describes ‘Hijack ‘93’ as a daring portrayal of Nigeria’s turbulent path to democracy.
The manufacturing boasts a mix-and-match forged, combining seasoned actors akin to Bob Manuel and John Dumelo with Nollywood’s newer faces, together with Sharon Ooja, Nancy Isime, and Jemima Osunde. Rising abilities Adam Garba, Allison Emmanuel, Oluwaseyi Akinola, and Nnamdi Agbo painting the younger activists on the coronary heart of this intense drama.
The movie’s recognition on Netflix alerts an urge for food for Nollywood’s choices amongst world audiences, a pattern analysts anticipate will bolster funding in Nigerian cinema. The collaboration of Play Network and Native Media, with the backing of each UK authorities companies and the BFI, highlights the ability of cross-border storytelling in amplifying numerous narratives, giving ‘Hijack ‘93’ a becoming place in Nollywood’s canon of internationally acknowledged works.
As the trade anticipates additional Nollywood options making their mark on the world stage, ‘Hijack ‘93’ reinforces the rising affect of Nigerian cinema and its enchantment to a broad, multicultural viewers.
