Funke Akindele’s The Four vs Toyin Abraham’s Bestie: December 2026 Nollywood Clash

Funke Akindele’s The Four and Toyin Abraham’s Bestie will share the same December 2026 cinema window.

Two of Nollywood’s highest-grossing filmmakers now have confirmed Christmas dates five days apart. Funke Akindele’s The Four: No One Fights Alone opens nationwide on 11 December 2026. Toyin Abraham’s Bestie follows on 16 December 2026. Both titles are going through FilmOne Entertainment.

That calendar overlap is why the pair is trending again. It is not a new story. It is the latest chapter in a box-office rivalry that has followed both women from Omo Ghetto: The Saga versus The Ghost and the Tout Too through last year’s Behind The Scenes versus Oversabi Aunty.

What The Four is

Akindele announced the project in August 2026 under Funke Akindele Network. The film is an ensemble drama set between the Odu community and the city. It follows Esosa and three women who leave home to fight for the future of a young man they love. Friendship, loyalty, and pressure on that bond are the stated themes.

Confirmed names around the production include Funke Akindele, Bisola Aiyeola, Chioma Akpotha, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Timini Egbuson, Lateef Adedimeji, Ali Nuhu, Uzor Arukwe, Ronke Oshodi Oke, Antar Laniyan, Wunmi Toriola, Waje, and Shoday. First-look stills and the soundtrack Ore Mi (with Bisola, Waje, and Chioma) dropped in early September.

Akindele arrives with the heavier recent cinema record. Behind The Scenes (December 2025) became Nollywood’s highest-grossing film, crossing ₦2.5 billion. Everybody Loves Jenifa, A Tribe Called Judah, and Battle on Buka Street sit behind that run.

What Bestie is

Abraham posted the December 16 date on 4 September 2026. Plot and full cast have not been published in the same detail as The Four. The title follows her 2025 cinema debut as director, Oversabi Aunty, which crossed ₦1 billion and earned NFVCB recognition as a box-office champion.

She had already signalled a December cinema return when she closed her 2026 YouTube slate with Alábọ̀sí 2 and promised “another beautiful chapter.”

Why fans are calling it a copy

Some Akindele supporters treated Abraham’s date drop as a concept lift and a slot grab. That claim is still unverified. Bestie has no public synopsis that matches The Four line for line. What is public is the calendar: five days, same distributor, same holiday spend.

The heat is easier to understand if you map the last twelve months:

• December 2025: Oversabi Aunty and Behind The Scenes shared screens. Abraham said cinemas short-changed her showtimes. Some fans pointed at Akindele’s camp. Cinema operators denied bias.
• March 2026: at Iyabo Ojo’s The Return of Arinzo premiere, a clip showed Abraham greeting Akindele and getting no visible response. Abraham unfollowed her. Iyabo later said she had already tried to broker peace after the cinema row.
• July 2026: Abraham said she does not want to be pitched against anyone and does not want to revisit the past.

They are widely reported as not on speaking terms. Neither has issued a new attack tied to this week’s date announcement. The argument is mostly fan-driven.

What this means on CastGrid

This is a cast-and-calendar story more than a “who is wrong” story.

The Four already has a dense collaboration graph: Akindele, Lateef Adedimeji, Timini Egbuson, Chioma Akpotha, Bisola Aiyeola, RMD. Those names keep reappearing across recent high-grossing titles. Bestie is still a thin node until Abraham publishes cast. When she does, the useful question for this site is not “who copied whom.” It is who is in both films, who is exclusive, and how the December weekend splits screens.

December remains Nollywood’s highest-spend month. Two FilmOne titles five days apart will compete for the same halls, the same families, and the same social conversation. That is the industry fact. The rest is commentary.

Release dates to track

• The Four: No One Fights Alone — 11 December 2026
• Bestie — 16 December 2026
• Distributor for both: FilmOne Entertainment

CastGrid will update cast, crew, and Grid Score pages as official credits land. Rate both titles when they open.

FAQ

When does Funke Akindele’s new movie come out?

The Four: No One Fights Alone opens 11 December 2026.

When does Toyin Abraham’s Bestie come out?

16 December 2026.

Are Funke Akindele and Toyin Abraham releasing movies the same month?

Yes. Five days apart in December 2026, both via FilmOne.

Who stars in The Four?

Funke Akindele, Bisola Aiyeola, Chioma Akpotha, RMD, Timini Egbuson, Lateef Adedimeji, Ali Nuhu, Waje, and others.