The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) says it generated N6.94 billion in revenue for 2022.
NAN reports that Opeyemi Ajayi, the association’s national president, revealed the figure during an interview in Lagos.
Ajayi said there had been an appreciable increase in revenue generation in 2022 compared with the previous years.
The N6.94 billion in 2022 is also more than the N4.74 billion generated in 2021 — which is a 46.4 per cent growth year-on-year.
“The box office raked in N4.74 billion in 2021, N2.1 billion in 2020, N6.4 billion in 2019, and N5.98 billion in 2018,” he said.
“For 2022, the increase in average ticket price led to revenue growth and admissions remained flat in the previous year.
“Nigeria continues to lead the recovery in Africa, post COVID, on the back of strong local industry. Also, Hollywood continues to focus on African content and engagement is very positive for the box office.
“We observed that ‘Black Panther’ is on track to become the first N1bn movie.”
Ajayi said, for the 2023 outlook, gross revenue and admissions are expected to grow by at least 20 percent.
He said some factors had been observed to drive growth in the new year as five cinemas were opened in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The CEAN boss said a minimum of three new locations are expected to open in the first half of 2023.
“This will be a positive addition to the box office,” Ajayi said.
Ajayi said a 10 to 15 percent increase in ticket price would potentially drive box office revenue in 2023.
He said independent cinemas constitute 25 percent of the market share at present, although they were faced with low ticket prices.
Hollywood-Nollywood collaborations on content, he said, are expected to continue in the foreseeable future.
“With the success of big Nollywood movies such as Brotherhood, Battle on Buka Street, King of Thieves, to mention a few, 2023 is expected to have [big budget] movie and potential release outside West Africa,” Ajayi added.
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