THERE was a resurgence of the cinema going culture in Nigeria in May 2004 with the establishment of Silverbird Cinema at the Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos, but at the time, Hollywood films dominated the exhibition space largely because Nollywood had maintained a direct-to-home production through the sales of CDs and DVDs, and a last distribution chain being Africa Magic on DStv.
While the home video business held sway, another factor that made Nigerian films somewhat unfit for the cinemas was the low quality of production which produces hazy pictures on the big screen, until ‘Through the Glass’ a project by Stephanie Okereke-Linus who just return from the New York Film Academy in 2007 opened the floodgate for other filmmakers who began to use upgraded equipment in order for their films to be accepted by cinema owners.
Although ‘Through the Glass’ did not achieve much commercial success, having made about N13 million in three weeks of exhibition, the next remarkable Nigerian production, ‘The Figurine’ (2009), by Kunle Afolayan endeared more people to the cinemas, thus the film made about N25million. There was a notable progression in box office earnings, as a project project, ‘Ije-The Journey’ (2010) by another Nigerian filmmaker, Chineze Anyaene, who also attended the New York Film Academy recorded N59 million, showcasing in five cinemas across three Nigerian cities.
It was the first time a Nigerian movie was making such earning. And this brought hope to many who began to see the cinema as a way of outsmarting pirates who are known to feat on DVDs even before their original owners have released them to the market. For a long time, ‘Ije’ became a reference point for possibility. And the producer, among other things harped on robust publicity budget as her success factor.
When in 2012, the first Filmhouse Cinema was opened in Surulere, hope for more earnings rose, but for a while, none was able to beat the record of ‘Ije’. However, Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Phone Swap’ (2012) was an improvement on ‘The Figurine’, having made about N30million in the cinemas.
Again, Afolayan’s ‘October 1’ ( 2014) was an improvement on his previous work with more than N35million box office sales apart from about N60million it clinched through the filmmaker’s private screening initiative. In the same year, there was another unprecedented bumper earning by first-time feature film producer, Ayo Makun whose film made N100million.
By this time, Filmhouse’s strategic development plan to roll-out 25 cinemas over a six year period had yielded about 60 percent, added to the likes of Viva Cinema in Ibadan and Ilorin, Kada Cinema in Benin, Dews Cinema in FESTAC Town, Royal Cinema in Alimosho, 5D Cinema 9Ja in Port-Harcourt and Genesis Deluxe Owerri among a few others.
Interestingly, the exploits of Nigerian films in the cinemas in the last few years have been particularly remarkable. While ‘The CEO’ by Kunle Afolayan made well over N60million and ‘Wives on Strike’ by Omoni Oboli raked about N71million, ‘A Trip to Jamaica by Ayo Makun was said to have made N160million. And while promoters where still celebrating that as the highest grossing film in Nigeria last year, ‘The Wedding Party’ directed by Kemi Adetiba grossed N36million in its opening weekend alone, while ”76′, a film on the Nigerian military coup and directed by Izu Ojukwu and ‘Three Wise Men’ by Opa Williams have had their cinema figures kept under wraps.
The record booster for ‘The Wedding Party’, which critics have rated low in some quarters, is such that it opened on the same weekend with Hollywood Sci-Fi, ‘Rogue One – a Star Wars story, and edged it off the way.
With the current development, it is safe to say that Nigerian films, in the last three years have improved tremendously in box office performances, lending credence to the 2015 report by leading audit firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) which put the worth of Nigerian entertainment and media industry at more than US$4 billion annually, with the prediction that by 2019, the market will be more than twice as big, with estimated total revenue of US$8.1 billion.
