Nigeria’s box office records N471m in July — 30% higher than June

Nigeria’s box office has raked in N471 million in ticket sales across all cinemas for the month of July.

Ope Ajayi, national chairman of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), announced the figure in an interview with NAN on Tuesday.

According to him, the figure represents 30 per cent revenue increase when compared to the N363,274,999 generated from ticket sales in June.

Ajayi added that the increase in revenue for July comes despite having only 31 movies released compared to 41 recorded in June.

“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,” he said.

“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 titles released in July (31), compared to June (41), Nigerian cinemas experienced 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.”

The CEAN national chairman said the top five 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.’

Ajayi added that with the revenue generated in July, the box office is likely to surpass the feat in August.

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

He listed the movies to be released in 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’, and ‘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’.