The Yoruba actor and director Muyiwa Ademola has spoken explicitly about his decision to adapt his 2004 award-winning film *Ori* after more than 20 years.
With numerous national and international awards, including an Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) for Best Indigenous Film, the original film was a huge hit.
Ademola travelled outside of Nigeria for the first time as well. The actor brought the story back to life in 2025 with a reboot called “Ori: The Rebirth.”
Ademola revealed in an interview on TVC’s Your View that he decided to see the movie again because of its “legacy and constant fan demand.”
“As a producer, there is always that one film that after you do it, you notice things changing for the better, and that is what happened to the film ‘Ori,’ which was shot in 2003 and released in 2004,” he said.
“It was massive; it was the movie that took me out of the country for the first time, and won several awards, including AMAA awards for the ‘Best Indigenous Movie.’ So it brought a lot of beautiful things.
“Also, every time I step out of my house, people ask me to do something about ‘Ori’. Then I tried to make a stage play and write a book but discovered people don’t read anymore; I just had a lot of ideas.
“But when it clocked 20 years, I thought of immortalising the film and something that would outlive me.
“So, in 2023 we shot ‘Ori The Rebirth’ rebirth. It was the things that came with the first ‘Ori’ that inspired me to do something about it and now it has been done.”
He further reflected on the financial strain of funding the film alone, revealing that his family had to cut back on expenses to make it happen.
The filmmaker disclosed that a private jet used in a crash scene was built from scratch to ensure it looked realistic.
“When I started filming ‘Ori: The Rebirth’, I put everything I had into it, borrowing from friends and family because I’m the executive producer. I raised all the money myself because I didn’t want anyone to call me out if it failed,” he added.
“In my home, we had to reduce some spendings but my wife and children were supportive.
“There is also a plane crash scene in the film so because I wanted it to be real, we built a while private jet from the the scratch.”
