Nigeria’s box office records N301.48m revenue in February

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) on Friday said that it realised N301.48 million from tickets sold across the country in February.

CEAN’s National President, Mr Patrick Lee, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos.

Lee said this was a tremendous increase compared with N224.34 million realised from ticket sales in February 2021.

“In spite of the usual decline in attendance in February, box office revenue for 2022 was 26 per cent higher than the amount recorded in the comparative period of 2021. Attendance is within similar range at 185,000.

“Films such as “Uncharted”, “Dinner at My Place”, “Blacklight”, “Before Valentine’s”, “Head Over Bills” and “Marry Me”, amongst others, drove the numbers.

“This has so far, helped cinemas stay afloat in preparation for the spike from March, when “The Batman” would open strictly in cinemas,” he said.

Lee said the top five highest grossing films in Nigeria for February and the admission rate were: “Uncharted”- 49,109; “Dinner at My Place”- 21,448; “Blacklight”- 10,767; “Before Valentine’s”- 12,315 and “Spiderman: No Way Home”- 11,844.

He noted that 70 per cent of the films exhibited in cinemas in February were from Hollywood while Nollywood accounted for 30 per cent.

Lee disclosed that the films to be released into the cinemas in the month of March were: “The American King”; “The Batman”; “Boycott”, “Turning Red”; “Dejavu”; “Mama’s Big Stick”; “The Contractor”; “Rising Sun”; “Obsession”; “Ambulance” and “A Simple Lie”.

“March opens with exciting expectations at the box office, as Robert Pattinson is set to deliver screen brilliance in his first performance as Bruce Wayne of Gotham city, in the blockbuster – “The Batman”.

“The character was last played as a single lead in 2005 by Christian Bale, and later, Ben Affleck gave a sensational account of the Gotham city billionaire/super-hero in 2016’s “Batman vs Superman” and 2017’s “Justice League”.

“Will Pattinson deliver the nostalgia akin to Bruce Wayne’s wittiness, or would he be unveiling an absolutely different side to the character than who DC fans are used to? We will all get to see,” he said.