For over a century and a half, the story of how Lagos fell to the British has been told by the victors, the colonizers, and the history books that glossed over the blood in the lagoon. But this August, a film crew with royal blood in its veins is setting the record straight. Teqsus Studios is rolling out King Kosoko: The Battle for Lagos, a sprawling Yoruba-language epic that drags one of Nigeria’s most consequential and least-told chapters out of the archives and onto the IMAX screen.
Directed by Adebayo Tijani, the film zeroes in on the reign of Oba Kosoko, the 12th Oba of Lagos, and his defiant stand against the British Empire, a clash that reached its boiling point in 1851 with the bombardment of Lagos, a confrontation the Yoruba still call the Salt Water War, Ogun Olomiro. This is not the Lagos of Lekki toll gates and Third Mainland Bridge traffic. This is the Lagos of war canoes, palace intrigues, and a king who looked at the Royal Navy and refused to blink.
The film tracks Kosoko’s rise to power between 1833 and 1852, a period drenched in bitter succession disputes, family betrayal, and the constant shadow of British gunboats. It is a story of a man fighting on two fronts: against his rival Oba Akintoye for the throne, and against the encroaching might of the British Consul and the Royal Navy, a struggle that would ultimately reshape the city’s destiny and pave the way for Britain’s annexation in 1861.
For director Tijani, who has helmed some of Nollywood’s biggest box office hits, this project hits different. “Nigerians know Jagun Jagun, they know King of Thieves, but this story is different, because every frame of it really happened,” he said. “Kosoko was a king who looked at the might of the British Empire and refused to bow. That is a story Lagos deserves to see on the biggest screen possible.”
The weight of history is not lost on the production team. Producer Segun Olojo-Kosoko is not just a filmmaker; he is a Lagos prince and a seventh-generation direct descendant of King Kosoko himself. “This is my family’s history, the story I was raised on,” Olojo-Kosoko said. “For 175 years the world has told the story of Lagos from the outside. This time, the king’s own bloodline is telling it.”
Femi Adebayo steps into the royal sandals as Kosoko, a role he calls the honor of his career. “He was a warrior, a strategist, and a man betrayed by those closest to him,” Adebayo said. “Audiences who love the Yoruba epic genre have never seen it at this scale.”
Producer Ayo Ajayi frames the film as more than a history lesson. “Lagos did not begin with skyscrapers, bridges and traffic,” he said. “Before the modern city, there was a kingdom, and there were powerful men and women whose decisions helped shape its destiny. With King Kosoko, we are bringing one of those extraordinary stories to the big screen, not as a history lesson, but as an epic, emotional and entertaining Nigerian story that deserves to be seen by the world.”
The production is a beast of a project, with a cast of over 70 actors, including Odunlade Adekola, Jide Kosoko, Fathia Williams, Gabriel Afolayan, Femi Branch, Aisha Lawal, Kola Ajeyemi, Tina Uba, and Sola Kosoko. Shot on location in Epe and Ijebu with ARRI Alexa Mini LF cameras, the film is mastered for Dolby Atmos sound and finished in 4K HDR, ensuring the battle sequences hit with the force of cannon fire.
King Kosoko: The Battle for Lagos opens in cinemas nationwide on August 28, 2026, presented in Yoruba with English subtitles. The grand premiere takes place on Saturday, August 23, 2026, at IMAX Lekki, Lagos, with a red carpet rolling out from 6PM. For those who want a taste before the storm, the trailer is already live.
