The saying that Nigerians are entertainment lovers may be an understatement going by recent statistics posted by experts in the entertainment industry.
According to the Statistics the sum of N758.1 million was realized from movie sales in weekends from January-March 2019, according reports from the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN).
CEAN is an association of cinema owners, operators and managers incorporated by the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria and is meant to promote and protect the value of cinema exhibition in Nigeria.
According to a breakdown of the CEAN figure for January a total gross of N289.6 million was spent on the top 20 movies and viewed by 211,801 people; for February, it recorded N178.7 million from 133,132 people, and for March it was N292.5 million viewed by 211,007.
Depending on the packages that come with it such as complementary drinks and popcorn, Movie ticket prices usually range from N1,000 – N3000 across cinemas.
Major film distributors across cinemas in Nigeria are FilmOne, Silverbird Film, Genesis Deluxe cinemas and Metro Classic.
Recently, watching movies in cinemas seems to be the new ‘thing in town’ and this is aside from its entertainment values, movie-going is quickly becoming a lifestyle in which people go to the cinemas with their loved ones and friends to see movies and relax.
Usually, people go to watch foreign movies (Hollywood) than home ones (Nollywood) but recently, people are beginning to appreciate the home ones.
For example, Chief Daddy, Up North, Mo’ Dorisa, Hire a Woman, The Big fat Lie, the and She, were some of the top charting Nollywood films for the three month period.
Movie producers have found cinema premiering as a means of escaping the gins of movie pirates. Also the Nigerian movie industry has been churning out quality movies worthy of people’s time and money, which makes them cinema-worthy.
“I usually download the latest foreign movies because they are accessible and have good quality but when it comes to the home movies, I watch it at the cinema. It is better enjoyed there,” Shola Awoniyi said.
A new cinema era began in 2004 with the launch of a series of modern cinema houses by the Silverbird Group and since then launch of the group, new cinemas like Ozone, Filmhouse and Genesis Deluxe have launched and are playing important roles in the evolution of the Nigerian film industry
