Nigerians spent almost N7billion to watch films in the cinemas in 2019, with November and December being the highest grossing months, with a combined box office takings of N2billion, according to data provided by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN).
The year opened with ‘Aquaman’, ‘Chief Daddy’ and ‘Up North’ sitting on the top three of the chart, with estimated combined earnings of N168.2 million.
Earnings remained low for February, making it the lowest grossing month with a total of N291.8 million.
By March, viewership picked up steadily and the earnings were almost doubled from that of February leading to a total of N434.4 million.
Earnings from April climbed from N187 million Naira in its third week to N342.4 million in its final week.’
The month closed with estimated total earnings of N734.1 million due to a major boost from Disney’s ‘Endgame’.
In May, there was a massive dip in earnings similar to that experienced in February. With ‘Endgame’, ‘The Intruder’ and ‘Longshot’, it earned a total of N367.4 million.
June opened with N161 million but closed with N100.6 million leading to a total earning of N576.3 million.
In July, the highest-grossing film for the period was ‘Bling Lagosians’. The film grossed the highest income in cinemas in June. In the first week of July, the movie earned N37.4million.
For the last weekend in August, ‘Bling Lagosians’ settled at number 20 with ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ struggling at number 19. ‘The Set Up’ had dropped to number five.