Nigerians spent N7bn in cinemas in 2019

Nigerians spent about N6.97 billion to watch films in the cinemas across the country in 2019.

This is according to data provided by cinemas and gathered by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), NAN reports.

The year opened with ‘Aquaman’, ‘Chief Daddy’ and ‘Up North’ sitting on the top three of the chart, with estimated combined earnings of N168, 263, 512 million.

Earnings remained low for February, making it the lowest grossing month with a total of N291.8 million.

By March, viewership picked up steadily and the earnings were almost doubled from that of February leading to a total of N434, 432, 431 million.

Earnings from April climbed from N186, 929, 188 million in its third week to N342, 382, 389 million in its final week.

The month closed with estimated total earnings of N734, 151, 060 million due to a major boost from Disney’s ‘Endgame’.

In May, there was a massive dip in earnings similar to that experienced in February. With ‘Endgame’, ‘The Intruder’ and ‘Longshot’, it earned a total of N367, 498, 554 million.

June opened with N161, 132, 714 million but closed with N100, 663, 647 million, leading to a total earning of N576, 322, 779 million.

In July, the highest-grossing film for the period was ‘Bling Lagosians’. The film grossed the highest income in cinemas in June. In the first week of July, the movie earned N37.4 million.

For the last weekend in August, ‘Bling Lagosians’ settled at number 20 with ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ struggling at number 19. ‘The Set Up’ had dropped to number five.

Cumulatively, the cinemas earned over three billion naira in the first half of 2019 and over 1.2 billion naira in July and August of the same year.

In September, ‘Angel Has Fallen’ topped the box office with a gross of N40, 434, 564 million. It was followed by ‘Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw’ and Nollywood film, ‘The Millions’ which debuted at number three, raking in N10, 046, 476.

‘Angel Has Fallen’ remained on top for the second week with ‘Hustlers’ debuting at number one at the third week.

By the end of the month, cinema earnings had dropped by 13 percent with ‘Rambo: Last Blood’ at number one.

In October, ‘Love is War’ started strong with N14, 228, 280 million in its first week. ‘Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw’ sank to bottom in its 10th week. The same was the case for ‘The Lion King’ which was in its 12th week.

However, ‘Joker’ snagged the number one spot by the second week of October with the cinema gross totalling to N83, 703, 650 million that week.

By the third week, ‘Gemini Man’ pushed ‘Joker’ to second place and Nollywood’s ‘Elevator Baby’ debuted at number three.

At the final week, the top four films were ‘Maleficent’, ‘Black and Blue’, ‘Gemini Man’ and ‘Joker’ in that order with ‘Elevator Baby’ at number six. The total gross was N88, 063, 047 million.

November opened with ‘Terminator: The Dark Fate’ on top raking in N37, 267, 747 million. ‘Maleficent’, now in its third week, earned N18, 459, 252 million in second place.

Nollywood was at sixth place with ‘Elevator Baby’ which made N4, 298, 150 million and ‘Living in Bondage: Breaking Free’ debuted in its first weekend at number seven.

In the second week, ‘Living in Bondage’ sat on top in its first full week and made N48, 692, 825 million, pushing ‘Terminator’ to second place. ‘Elevator Baby’ dropped to number eight and the week closed at N114, 331, 989 million.

‘Living in Bondage’ continued its winning streak and suffered only seven percent decrease but was pushed to second place by the end of the month by ’21 Bridges’. ‘The Ghost and the House of Truth’ debuted at seventh place.

December opened with ‘Living in Bondage’ redeeming its number one spot, followed by ’21 Bridges’ and ‘Frozen 2’. The total gross for the week was N85, 863, 384 million which was a 100 percent increase.

By the third week, there was another 44 percent increase with ‘Jumanji’ debuting and making N58, 131, 872 million and ‘Your Excellency’ grossed N36, 652, 637 million.

The last week saw a 110 percent increase with ‘Merry Men 2’ pulling in N94, 241, 491 million in its first week. ‘Sugar Rush’ debuted and made N92, 585, 385 million.

For the last quarter of 2019, cinemas made N326, 503, 084 million in September, N342, 795, 751 million in October, N960, 234, 641 million in November and N1, 023, 321, 652 billion in December.