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On the heels on ‘The Wedding Party’, Nollywood’s highest grossing movie with over ₦450 million in total box office takings, five Nigerian movies are currently making waves in cinemas across the country, with over N300 million in ticket sales in less than five months.
‘Okafor’s Law’, a romantic and comedy movie produced by Omoli Oboli, is leading the pack, with over N100 million total box takings so far, in the cinema. The impressive figure, which is expected to reach over N200 million before the end of the year, was realised despite an earlier court injunction which restrained its scheduled premiere on March 24 this year, at IMAX Cinema, Lekki, Lagos.
The movie sold out after a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, later vacated an interim order, which restrained the premiering and release of the movie nationwide, on March 31, 2017.
Trailing behind ‘Okafor’s Law’ is ‘Omugwo’ with over N48 million in box office takings so far. The movie, produced by Kunle Afolayan, is still showing at cinemas across the country and is likely going to double the sum by the end of the year.
The third in the ranking is ‘Hire A Man’, another Nollywood blockbuster comedy movie, which hit N46 million in box takings in first quarter 2017 and is still screening in cinemas across the country, while ‘American Driver’ impresses with N41million returns so far.
Chinneylove Eze, producer of the hilarious ‘Hire A Man’, is excited at the impressive box office takings of the movie, but looks forward to over N100 million grossing, as the movie still has more screening time in cinemas across the country, besides premiering at international film festivals.
However, the most intriguing of the movies is ‘Alakada Reloaded’. The comedy movie produced by Toyin Abraham grossed an unprecedented N25million in its first three days at cinemas across the country, from May 26 to 28, 2017.
Toyin Abraham attributed the box office success of the movie to the hilarious storyline, world class cast, and especially partnership with FilmOne Distribution Limited, West Africa’s largest film distribution company, for marketing and distribution of the movie.
“So far, the film is a hit and eventually is going to break another box office record with FilmOne behind us’’, Abraham assured.
‘Brother Jekwu’, which sold over N20 million in 10 days in the cinemas, is also worthy of mention. Since its release on December 2, 2016, the debut movie of Mike Ezuruonye, a Nollywood ace actor turned producer, has since grossed over N35 million in box office takings, an impressive result that earned it recent endorsement by Watford, an English Premiership League club.
Speaking on the success of her movie, Oboli, who claimed to have lost N50 million from the cancelled premiere, including revenue from seat bookings, ticket sales and advert placement, said, “I am extremely happy about the success of my movie. I feel so blessed. My major focus was to tell a story everyone can understand and relate with.
“The reception from fans all over the country, the turn out, and the sell-outs are indications to the fact that Nigerians are now consuming what the country produces”.
But beyond engaging film distribution companies, Mike Ezuruonye attributed the success of his movie to his unique deployment of Nigerian celebrities in selling the tickets.
According to Moses Babatope, group executive director, FilmOne Distribution Limited, the distributors of ‘Okafor’s Law’, the movie has potential to make more millions in the cinemas because of the stellar cast, enthralling story line and hilarious delivery by the cast.
“The industry has a lot going for it, as Nollywood movies are evidently getting more attention than usual, and it is becoming more popular than foreign movies among Nigerian cinema goers. So, Nigerians have no excuse again not to visit cinemas to see thrilling homemade blockbuster movies they can easily relate with”, he said.
Babatope sees a somewhat rebirth of cinema culture and theatre facilities, which has resulted in better performance in the box office by Nigerian films.
He also noted that the impressive figure is a boost to more investments in cinemas, distribution companies and related services, as investors are assured of good return on their investments, even in the face of recession.
OBINNA EMELIKE
