Nigeria’s box office records N471m revenue in July

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) on Tuesday said it generated N471 million from tickets sold across the country in July.

CEAN’s National Chairman, Mr Ope Ajayi, disclosed this in an interview with our reporter in Lagos.

Ajayi said that there was an increase comparing revenue generated in July with that of June, as well as comparing revenue in July 2021 with July 2022.

“The box office got total revenue of N471,679,856.00 for July, an increase from what we had in June N363,274,999.00; this is encouraging.

“Thor: Love & Thunder was the major outlier, accounting for over 54 per cent of the total Box Office revenue in July and 69 per cent of Hollywood, while ‘Ile Owo’ was Nollywood’s highest-grossing, accounting for about 4 per cent.

“Despite fewer tittles released in July (31), compared to June (41), Nigerian cinemas experienced a growth in box office revenue by 30 per cent comparing totals from both months.

“However, comparing July’s revenues for 2021 and 2022, cinemas gained 5 per cent increase.

“August looks to feature strong Nollywood titles alongside Bullet Train, hence, cinemas anticipate a strong build-up to the fourth quarter,” he said.

Ajayi noted that the top 5 highest-grossing films in July were: Thor: Love and Thunder, Minions 2:The Rise of Gru, Jurassic Work: Dominion, Ile Owo and Top Gun: Maverick.

He listed the movies to be released into the cinemas for the month of August as: Runner, Bullet Train, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, Cold, Akoni, Beast, The Set-Up 2, Rubucon,

Others include: The Stranger I Know, Dragon Ball Super: Superhero, The Invitation to Hell, All or Nothng, Big Trip 2: Special Delivery, Nope, Hammer and Obara’m.