Going to the movies is gradually becoming a big business in Nigeria. Over a two year period, total cinema earnings jumped from N10.74 billion in 2024 to N14.52 billion in 2025, according to data by FilmOne Entertainment.
While the entire country saw growth, Lagos stood tall as the king of entertainment, gaining N13.70 billion in the two years and raking in more than half of all cinema money nationwide.
The commercial capital grew its earnings to N7.94 billion, up from N5.76 billion in 2024. Across its 41 locations, the highest in the region, Lagos recorded over 1.28 million ticket admissions.
While Lagos made over 50% of the money, it only accounted for about 45% of the total tickets sold. This is due to the high cost of movie tickets in the city. With luxury viewing options like IMAX and a wealthier population, cinemas in Lagos can charge higher prices. As a result, an average cinema in Lagos makes way more money than one anywhere else in the country.
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The billion-naira club expands
Lagos remained the undisputed heavyweight; however, 2025 marked a historic milestone for the rest of the country: the expansion of the “billion-naira club.” For the first time, two states outside of Lagos shattered the N1 billion ceiling.
Abuja (FCT) leveraged just five cinemas to generate an impressive N1.14 billion (a solid jump from N852 million in 2024). Rivers State followed closely, crossing the ten-figure mark to pull in N1.03 billion (up from N801 million) across eight locations. According to FilmOne’s yearbook data, these two markets perfectly matched their revenue shares with their admission shares, proving a highly stable, rock-solid demand outside the Lagos metropolis.
The Underdogs: Explosive growth in unexpected places
Looking past the sheer volume of the top three, the year-on-year data reveals growth in unexpected territories.
Kaduna delivered the most jaw-dropping performance of the year, skyrocketing from a modest N26.3 million in 2024 to N81.7 million in 2025, an astronomical growth of over 210%. Cross River also stunned the market, nearly doubling its revenue from N43.6 million to N79.5 million within a single year.
Meanwhile, states such as Osun and Kwara punched well above their weight. Operating just two to three sites each, they delivered outsized returns of N331 million and N183 million, respectively. It is a sharp contrast to Ogun State, which boasts 12 cinemas (second only to Lagos) but generated just 3.09% of national revenue, proving that throwing more screens at a city doesn’t automatically translate to blockbuster returns. Location quality, urban density, and smart programming dictate the winners.
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A concentrated market with massive untapped potential
The top 10 states led by Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, Edo (N975m), and Oyo (N869m)—accounted for 88.5% of the total 2025 box office. The rest of the country scrambled for the remaining 11.5%, driven by volume-based attendance and cheaper ticket prices in smaller single-site markets like Kano (N7.9m) and Nasarawa (N1.8m).
Despite the billions rolling in, the industry is still scratching the surface. Currently, 15 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Akwa-Ibom (the only missing South-South state) and the entire North-East, still lack a single modern cinema location.
The two-year box office data tells a compelling story of a maturing industry choosing profitability over pure accessibility. It’s a market where premium pricing holds the reins. Yet, as emerging hubs like Kaduna explode in growth and Abuja and Rivers flex their billion-naira muscles, it is clear that the big screen is slowly but surely capturing the rest of the nation.
