Nollywood Not Listed Among 200 Highest Grossing Movies As Poor Patronage Hits Nigerian Cinemas

Despite the fact that Nigerian movies occupy most of the slots on the movie schedules at the Cinemas, investigations have revealed that viewership within the last few months have been on the decline.

This is evident from the fact that, from available statistics of revenue from movies for the first four months of this year, no Nigerian movie was listed among the top 200 highest grossing movie for 2021.

Within the first four months of this year, over ten Nollywood movies have hit various cinemas across the country. Some of the movies are Day of Destiny, The Miracle Centre, Prophetess, Fine Wine, The Wait, The Therapist, Namaste Wahala, Still Falling, Ponzi, Under the Carpet, and Eagle Wings amongst others.

But despite the creativity and the talents that were engaged by movie producers in the production of this Nollywood movies, none of them was listed among the top 200 highest grossing movie.

Stakeholders have described the development as worrisome, considering the huge efforts made by the Federal Government and the private sector in repositioning the Nigerian movie industry.

But despite these effort, the industry is still lagging behind, particularly in terms of revenue earning potentials.

According to Box Office, some of the highest grossing movies globally according to Box Office are Hi, Mom which raked $822,028,209; Detective Chinatown ($686,257,563); Godzilla vs Kong ($427,111,000); A Writer’s Odyssey ($149,528,951); Sister ($128,256,916); Impasse ($118,201,280); My Love ($113,000,000);Tom and Jerry ($111,186,502); Raya and the Last Dragon ($107,788,545) and Endgame ($91,815,762).

Some Nollywood Actors have said that the fact that a movie is produced on big budget does not mean it must end in a cinema.

For instance, a Nollywood Actress Bimbo Ademoye said, “I am a perfectionist. I am the type of person that can make a movie worth millions and would still think it is not cinema worthy. I am not one to decide what film makes it to the cinema but I can tell you films that should not make it to the cinemas. Don’t disrespect that space.”

She added, “Don’t say because you have cameras and actors, you just take it and let people waste their money, time and energy at the cinemas.

“Some movies are better watched at home. That is being greedy. At the end of the day, the filmmakers end up stressing themselves because Nigerians know what is good. They would not tell people to go and watch a movie that is not good.”

THE WHISTLER correspondent who visited some movie Cinemas in Abuja at various periods observed that the level of viewership is on the decline.

Some of the Cinemas visited are Silverbird Cinemas located at the Silverbird Galleria and Jabi Mall. Also visited was Genesys Cinemas located in Ceddi Plaza.

One of the attendant in one of the cinemas told this website that the level of patronage since the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic had been on the decline.

The attendant who pleaded not to be named as he was not officially permitted to speak on the matter, said apart from the pandemic, the poor purchasing power of Nigerians which is caused by the economic hardship is also a factor.

He said on the average, it cost between N2,500 and N3,000 to see a movie.

He said with the biting economic hardship facing most Nigerians, there are only few people that could spare such amount for the sake of pleasure to see a two hour movie.

To encourage more people to visit the Cinemas, he said movie lovers can have access to the Cinemas for as low as N1,500 but only on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The official said, “Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, there has been low patronage to the Cinemas. Apart from that, the economic situation is making it difficult for people to come and watch movie because of limited resources.”