The latest “Fast and Furious” movie, “F9,” raked in ₦56.3 million at the Nigerian box office over the weekend, making it the best Hollywood opening this year.
The movie topped the previous record holder, “Godzilla vs Kong” which earned a total of ₦17.81 million in its opening weekend at the box office.
However, in comparison with the last “Fast” movie, “Hobbs and Shaw” in 2019, the ninth instalment’s debut fell short. The movie earned ₦63.72 million on debut, 13% more than F9’s revenue.
In general, the Nollywood movie, Omo Ghetto, remains the highest-grossing debut domestically post-pandemic. The record-breaking movie went on to rake a total of ₦636.12 million in over 16 weeks at the cinema.
F9 has already grossed $405 million globally, after opening with $136 million in its franchise’s key market of China last month.
With more international markets still to come, F9‘s total will likely pass “Godzilla vs. Kong” as this year’s highest-grossing Hollywood release so far with a gross of $442 million worldwide.
Nigerian cinemas rake in over 329 million in June
Aside from F9, several other movies did well in the Nigerian cinemas. According to recent stats by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), a total of ₦329.25 million was reportedly spent at cinemas during the month of June. This is higher than the ₦312.8 million raked in May.
₦312.8 million reportedly spent at cinemas in May is 13% lower than the 360.62 million raked in during the previous month (April) but is a significant 54% increase from ₦202.65 million revenue generated in March.
The growth in revenue corresponded to an increase in cinema attendance. A total of 233,186 movie watchers visited the cinema in the first 3 weeks of June compared to the 233,588 movie watchers in May.
A breakdown shows that the highest-grossing week of the month came in the third week, with cinemas grossing over ₦100.42 million. The growth was fueled by the release of the latest Fast and Furious movie F9.
The second week followed with a total of ₦75.73 million generated from over 56,000 movie watchers. However, the last weekend of the month raked in more, with ₦93.82 million.
The first week of June saw the lowest revenue with just ₦59.26 million from about 48,625 movie watchers.
F9 was the highest grossing movie in June
With its strong debut, it’s not surprising that F9 was the highest-grossing movie in June. The movie raked in a total of ₦67.92 million during the month to lead the charts.
Bovi’s My Village People followed closely with a gross of ₦64.18 million after debuting during the month. Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard comes in third with a total of ₦44.26 million.
Nollywood movie, Ayinla, directed by Tunde Kelani takes the 4th position with a gross of ₦37.85 million after also debuting during the month.
In summary
Despite F9‘s positive opening, the industry still has a long way to go to full recovery. The fundamental shift of how studios approach distribution could significantly affect its numbers.
For example, Universal, the studio behind the “Fast and Furious” movies, has struck deals to shorten the theatrical window from the pre-pandemic 75 days to just 17 in most cases, after which F9 will be released to streaming and digital-rental platforms.
Notwithstanding, the continuous increase in attendance shows that the cinema culture is still very strong in Nigeria and the whole world in general.
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