Nollywood’s Prophetess Tops Godzilla as Most Viewed Movie as Nigerians Spent N360M on Cinema in April 

Cinema attendance in Nigeria is finally growing after a significant drop during the first quarter of the year. This is according to recent stats by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN)

In April, cinemas admitted 269,008 movie watchers, a 60% growth from the 168,000 that visited the cinema in March and the 177,220 that did in February.

However, it is still 25% lower than the number (360,928) that was admitted in January.

The report shows that while the numbers have started growing it is still below the cinema attendance pre-pandemic. In comparison, there were over 440,000 moviegoers in February 2020 alone.

Cinema Revenue grows by 78%

The increase in moviegoers reflected in revenue generated by cinemas as Nigerians spent N360.62 million in April. This is a significant 78% increase from N202.65 million revenue generated in March and the N223.62 million recorded in February.

Despite the growth, the amount spent was still lower than the N492.15 million spent in January and the N551.9 million spent in January, 2020 pre-pandemic.

A breakdown shows that the highest-grossing week of the month came in the first week, with cinemas grossing over N124.26 million. The growth was fueled by the release of Godzilla Vs Kong and the Prophetess movie.

By the second week, the revenue dropped to N87.4 million as movies released also entered their second week. The third week was worse as moviegoers spent even lower as just N60.62 million was reported by cinemas.

The fourth week was not better as cinemas raked in just N57.47 million but it was still above the lowest weekly revenue pre-pandemic.

The downward trend of the revenue isn’t surprising but it is still well below the profits margins seen in 2019. A brief analysis points out that the boom of streaming during the pandemic may have influenced movie trends.

The new premiering of movies on streaming platforms instead of solely cinemas and the delayed release of some blockbuster movies may cause the full recovery to pre-pandemic numbers to take longer.

However, the threat Streaming platform like Netflix pose may not be as dreadful to cinema’s as most local catalogue on the platform are old. This means people still have to visit cinemas to watch big movies

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