Nigeria’s cinema records N378m revenue in August

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) on Tuesday said it generated N378 million from tickets sold across cinemas in the country in August.

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

Ajayi said that the figure represented 28 per cent increase compared to N294 million realised in August 2021.

He, however, said that there was a 19 per cent decline in tickets sold in August, as N471 million was generated in July.

“The 37 films shown in August realised over NGN378 million at the box office.

“13 Hollywood films accounted for 72.4 per cent while 16 Nollywood films made a little over 22 per cent.

He said the top five highest-grossing films in August were: Thur: Love and Thunder, Bullet Train, Beast, Hey you! and League of Surpets.

“Thor: Love and Thunder remained the highest-grossing, with N80 million in the month, which brings its lifetime revenue at Nigeria’s box office to over N350 million, as of 31st August,” he said.

Ajayi said the films to be out in September were: Where the Crawdads Sing, Passport, Symphony, Inside Life, Finding Ireti, The Woman King, Ticket of Life, Ticket of Paradise, Don’t Worry Darling.

Others are: Brotherhood, Smile/Tad He Lost Explorer and The, See How They Run, Choke, The Enforcer, Anikulapo and Osorongo.

“September 2022 features two main blockbusters – ‘The Woman King’ and ‘Brotherhood’, “Both having the potential to make September 2022 the best since the inception of the Nigerian box office, with revenues projected to hit N700 million, despite the high rate of rainfall recorded in several cities, especially Lagos.

“It is set to be a bit merrier in September when the legendary Viola Davies unleashes a brilliant performance in Sony’s new high paced epic drama/thriller, ‘The Woman King’.

“So, if the green screen lovers think they saw action at its finest last month, then, wait for what is coming from the female warriors of ancient Dahomey,” he said.