Nollywood earnings are over 416 million naira more than in 2022 with a 7% year-on-year increase in market share as reported by the Nigerian Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to data insights from The Industry, a journal by film insights publication, In Nollywood, over 14% of the total gross was earned by Funke Akindele’s ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, which has become the first Nollywood film to hit one billion naira in the cinema, a breathtaking record which has been set.
It’s also noted that the revenue growth mostly hinged on increased ticket prices, is not happening at the same pace as admissions growth, which is still significantly low. Despite the success of ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, Akindele’s previous film, Omo Ghetto: The Saga (2020) currently holds the record for the most admissions recorded for a Nollywood film at 449,901
The Journal equally report that nine other films grossed over 50 million naira in the cinemas in 2023. They are Malaika, Ada Omo Daddy, Orisa, Merry Men 3, Kesari, Something Like Gold, The Kujus Again, Afamefuna and A Weekend To Forget.
Quoting the Journal:
“If released in the same period as A Tribe Called Judah, with an average ticket price at ₦3,700, it’d have made over ₦1.6bn which raises the question of ticket prices and actual cinema habit growth, despite yearly increase in gross revenues. Ticket prices are at ₦7,000 in most cinemas in city centres.”
“In a similar context, the first Black Panther movie, released in 2018, had over 200,000 admissions more than Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“The latter went on to break the record for the first film to gross one billion naira in West Africa, a feat aided by increased ticket prices and more screening locations.”
“The former grossed over 800 million naira at the time. In 2018, there were 48 locations, the number grew to 64 by 2022,”
The report however did also add that problems could arise from increase in Cinema tickets prices which has been going at a wide rate could cause viewers to rethink their choices of going to the cinemas in the first place.