Nigerian moviegoers are gradually choosing Nollywood films over foreign movies in cinemas

October was a great month for Nigerian movies.
Unlike previous months when moviegoers spent more on foreign films, some of the revenue went to Nollywood this time.
Business Insider Sub-Saharan Africa breaks down the box office records and explores the implications of this change.

Every month, thousands of Nigerian moviegoers spend millions in cinemas across the country.

Unfortunately, Nollywood often loses out to as most people chose to watch Hollywood movies instead of something from the Nigerian domestic film industry.

A classic example is when only N46.8 million went to Nigerian movies even though moviegoers spent a total of N266 million in February 2019 or when less than N20 million went to Nollywood out of the N636 million spent in July.

However, the box office stats for October released by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) show a slow but positive change for the domestic film industry.

Unlike previous months when foreign movies topped the box office and Nollywood movies were close to the bottom of the 20 film releases list, at least one local film made it in the top five section throughout the entire month of October.

The breakdown

It started with the release of a Nollywood movie titled “Love is War” during the last weekend of September.

Love is War [Instagram/loveiswarthemovie] Pulse Nigeria

This movie quickly soared to the second spot raking in over N14 million in revenue from September 27 — October 3rd. “Kasanova” was also in the top 5 section during this same period with N4.7 million.

ALSO READ: 5 things RMD said about playing the role of Dr. Phillips in ‘Love is War’