Despite recession, 2016 was by far best year for Nollywood

The Nigerian economy experienced a serious downturn and things became hard for several citizens of the country. However, this did not seem to affect the box office revenue for several movies released in the year.

According to Guardian, an amazing N1 billion was made from a record 50 locally-produced titles. The N1 billion represents nearly 30 percent of the N3.5 billion generated from just 28 cinemas across Nigeria, which includes movies from Hollywoodand around the world.

The most remarkable spike came from ELFIKE’s The Wedding Party that still continues to break box office records three weeks after its release on December 16, 2016. The movie broke AY Makun‘s record of N176 million by making N200 million in about two weeks.

COO of FilmOne Distribution, Moses Babatope, said about the response to TWP, ‘This has been an amazing year for Nigerian cinema. With returns of well over N200 million, The Wedding Party is on track to deliver numbers we have never seen before for a Nigerian film. It’s important to note that it is selling more tickets than Rogue One, part of the Star Wars franchise and the biggest film worldwide this season. For the first time, Nollywood is competing with Hollywood at the Nigerian box-office and winning.’

Other movies that contributed to the record-breaking Nollywood gross revenue include Omoni Oboli’s Wives on Strike, Kunle Afolayan’s The CEO, Steve Gukas‘ 93 Days and Izu Ojukwu‘s ’76.

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