Eight Days to Efunroye. Here Is Everything You Need to Know Before May 1.
Eight days to Efunroye: The Unicorn. NollyPrime's compact pre-release brief: who Efunroye Tinubu actually was, the full confirmed cast, the commercial context of Yoruba-language epic cinema, and what Faithia Williams is carrying into this opening weekend.
Film · Opening Next Week
Eight days. Efunroye: The Unicorn opens in cinemas nationwide on May 1. NollyPrime has written the full cover treatment — the historical context, the personal weight Faithia Williams brings to it, what Niyi Akinmolayan’s producing involvement signals, what Yoruba-language epic cinema has been building toward. Here is the compact version for the week before the opening.
What it is: A Yoruba-language historical epic about Efunroye Tinubu, the 19th-century merchant and political figure who controlled trade in Lagos, shaped who sat on the Lagos throne, and was feared and respected by colonial administrators and Yoruba power brokers in equal measure. The film traces her from her beginnings as a market trader near Abeokuta through her marriage to exiled Prince Adele, her move to Lagos, and her ascent to become the most powerful female figure in 19th-century Yorubaland. She was eventually exiled by the British in 1856 and returned to Abeokuta, where she rose again, led resistance against Dahomean attacks, and was awarded the title of Iyalode. She is buried in Abeokuta. A statue stands in her name.
The cast: Faithia Williams leads as Efunroye. Odunlade Adekola, Mercy Aigbe, Ibrahim Chatta, Femi Adebayo, Saidi Balogun, Taiwo Hassan, Layi Wasabi, Eniola Ajao, Femi Branch, Ibrahim Yekini, Muyiwa Ademola, Kolawole Ajeyemi, Foluke Daramola. The ensemble is the most commercially credible combination of Yoruba-language cinema talent assembled for a single production this year.
The team: Directed by Adebayo Tijani and Tope Adebayo Salami. Produced by Faithia Williams, Niyi Akinmolayan, Diran Adeyinka, and Kemi Anibaba. Distributed by FilmOne Entertainment.
The commercial context: Yoruba-language epics have been consistently profitable in ways that the English-language mainstream does not always account for. Ori: The Rebirth grossed ₦419 million in 2025. Iyalode grossed ₦306 million. Labake Olododo grossed ₦264 million. These are not marginal numbers — they are the commercial backbone of the industry’s mid-tier. Efunroye arrives as the most ambitious single production in this category this year, with a true historical figure at its centre and a production scale that signals the genre taking itself as seriously as it should.
The personal context: Faithia Williams lost her mother during the production of this film. She announced the May 1 release date from that grief, saying she dedicated the project to her late mother. The film has been years in development. She carried it through false starts, funding gaps, and now through bereavement. The trailer has been circulating for weeks and the audience response has been significant. The performance she is delivering, from everything visible in promotional material, is not the performance of an actress doing a job. It is the performance of a woman who needed to tell this story.
May 1 is a Thursday. First-weekend numbers will define the film’s screen allocation going into the following weeks. NollyPrime will have the full report the moment figures are available.
Efunroye: The Unicorn — opens May 1, 2026, nationwide. Dir. Adebayo Tijani & Tope Adebayo Salami · Prod. Faithia Williams / Niyi Akinmolayan · Dist. FilmOne Entertainment · Yoruba-language.
