Cinema culture on the rise as Nigerians spend record-breaking N6.94bn at the movies in 2022

According to data released by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), Nigerians expended a record-breaking N6.94bn on movies in 2022, over N2.2bn more than the N4.7bn generated revenue in 2021.

Although the sum represented a 31.7% YoY rise in revenue from 2021, the growth was less than the 55.7% increase recorded in 2021 versus the figure of N2.1 billion in gross earnings from the year before (2020).

This may not be that far-fetched given that 2020 saw fewer revenues due to the global lockdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many Nigerians to adopt alternative leisure means.

Hence, given the 32% bounce in grossing revenue, Nigeria continues to lead the recovery in Africa post-COVID on the back of strong local industry. Consequently, Nigerians may therefore be enthusiastically adopting movie culture at a faster pace.

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Hollywood’s Black Panther 2 – Wakanda Forever’ was the highest-grossing Hollywood movie with N926M in revenue, followed by the Woman King with N472M in gross revenue. According to the data, Wakanda Forever is on track to becoming the first N1B movie.

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More on the Box Office cinema yearly overview

The Box Office statistics revealed that, with admissions being unchanged from the previous year, the biggest contributor to the increase in revenues was the rise in average ticket prices. Accordingly, Nigerians paid more in 2022 than they did the year before.

Cinema admissions last year were a bit lower than the previous year. According to the data, cinemas recorded 3,188,732 annual admissions in 2022 compared to 3,239,336 annual admissions in 2021.

However, Africa recorded a significant stride in the movies industry as their counterpart, Hollywood, directed their focus on producing African content and engagement. Movies like Black Panther 2 and The Woman King, were a demonstration of that effort.

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What this means for Nigerians and Nollywood

Nigerians are adopting the cinematic culture rapidly despite the country’s difficult economic situation. People are ready to spend more money at the movies as a means of recreation.

This does not mean they’re unaware that the country also faces an overwhelming issue of rising prices in most of these leisure elements. But they don’t care, especially during the holiday season.

For Nollywood, it thus means that much work was dedicated in 2022 to bringing Nigerians quality and relatable content, which kept them consistently visiting the cinemas throughout the year.

However, to maintain the momentum and keep grossing numbers and revenues high, consistent curation of quality-video movies and properly written storylines should be the industry’s benchmark if they are to compete with their counterparts.

In conclusion, we can infer that from the data printed by Box Office, overall, 2022 was a good year for Nollywood and the movie industry at large in Nigeria. Also, it was a year that revealed that Nigerians are quickly embracing the culture.

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