Nigeria’s box office records N582m revenue in April

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) on Sunday said that it generated N582 million from tickets sold across the country in April.

Its National President, Mr Patrick Lee, disclosed this in an interview in Lagos.

“The total ticket sales for the month of April across cinemas in Nigeria is N582,011,276.00.

“Comparing the sales with April 2021, there is an increase of 50 per cent as the sales for that was N388,420,832.00.

“22 Nollywood films shown in April accounted for 43 per cent of ticket sales, with King of Thieves as the outliner – 23 per cent, whereas 19 Hollywood films accounted for about 54 per cent with two films grossing over N50 million.

“Morbius and Sonic Hedgehog 2, the latter becoming the biggest animation of the year so far,” he said.

He revealed the top five highest grossing films for the month of April as: The King of Thieves, Morbius, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and the Blood Covenant.

“King of Thieves opened with the highest ticket sales for a Nollywood film in 2022, so far, it also became the highest grossing indigenous-themed film and only the 10th Nollywood film to hit past the N200 million mark,” Lee said.

He said that comparing March with April, ticket sales improved by about 68 per cent, with April having the highest box office figure since January.

Lee said that the films to be out for viewing for May were: Law of the Heart, Doctor Strange in the Multi-Universe of Madness, Firestarter, The Perfect Arrangement, Ilu America, Top Gun: Maverick, Bob’s Burger and The Wildflower.