Nollywood has a new hit movie! It’s called “What About Us,” and it was written and produced by Emmanuel Iren, who is the lead Pastor of Celebration Church Global. This movie has made N53.5 million in just 11 days. That’s a lot of money!
The movie came out on July 12 and has been number one ever since. It even did better than a big Hollywood movie called “Bad Boys: Ride or Die.” This information comes from the Nigerian Box Office.
“What About Us” has sold 13,000 tickets so far. That’s how many people have watched the movie in theaters.
Just last weekend, the movie made N18.6 million. That’s a small drop of 29% from the weekend before. On the other hand, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” made N18.1 million over the weekend, bringing its total earnings to N427.1 million with 94,000 tickets sold.
In its first three days of showing, “What About Us” made N24.6 million and by July 18, it reached N34.7 million. This is a big achievement for Pastor Iren as an executive producer. The movie was directed by Kayode Kasum and stars actors like Kunle Remi, Uzor Arukwe, Folu Storms, Teniola Aladese, Aeyi Awolowo, Marycolette Unamka, and Atlanta Bridget Johnson.
Important Information
The movie is distributed by Filmoneng and is another win for Nollywood films made by first-time producers. For example, Eniola Ajao’s first movie “Ajakaju” made N250 million at the Nigerian box office before it was shown on Amazon Prime.
Other movies doing well in Nigerian cinemas include “A Quiet Place: Day One,” which has made N124 million, and the new movie “Twisters,” which made N12 million in its first weekend.
More people are going to the movies and buying more tickets. In the first half of 2024, ticket sales went up by 63% compared to 2023. This means 619,441 tickets were sold this year compared to 380,225 last year. Also, the box office revenue has gone up by 148%, from N900 million in 2023 to N2.2 billion in 2024. Nollywood films now make up 51.7% of all tickets sold and 48.2% of all money made from movies.
This growth suggests that 2024 could be a record-breaking year for Nollywood. How well the movies perform in the final quarter and December 2024 will be very important. The Nigerian box office has already made more than N5 billion this year, with an average ticket price of N3,900.
The success of “What About Us” shows that Nollywood movies are becoming more popular and can compete with international movies. As the Nigerian film industry continues to grow, the success of films like “What About Us” and “Ajakaju” set a new standard for future movies.