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Nollywood crime thriller Black Market has set a Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a film screening at a single venue, after 51,000 people watched the movie at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos.
The record was achieved during a mass screening held on Saturday, September 26, 2026, with Guinness World Records recognising 51,000 attendees who met the requirements for the record.
The feat surpassed the previous benchmark of 43,624 people, set during the 2015 screening of the Filipino biographical film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena.
Black Market Draws 51,000 Viewers
Following confirmation of the record, the filmmakers announced the achievement on social media. The organisers had targeted at least 50,000 simultaneous viewers as part of the official record attempt.
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- “We just made history! 51,000 people!!! World record breakers!!” the filmmakers announced.
The Guinness World Record figure was lower than the overall attendance announced by Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, who said about 64,000 people were present at the event.
- Guinness World Records recognised 51,000 attendees who met the requirements for the record, including remaining at the venue from the beginning of the film until the end.
- The previous record was held by the 2015 screening of Felix Manalo, which attracted 43,624 people.
The record therefore counted only attendees who completed the screening rather than the total number of people who attended the event at TBS.
Inside Black Market’s Record Screening
Black Market was directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay and co-written by Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed.
- The crime thriller follows five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation whose lives are disrupted after the daughter of one of them is kidnapped.
- Its cast includes Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Itele D Icon and Uzor Arukwe.
- The film was produced by Rixel Studios, Signet Ring Studios and FilmOne Studios, while FilmOne Entertainment handled its distribution. Switch Visuals was responsible for the record-breaking screening event.
- The TBS screening also featured music, food, games and other entertainment activities, with the gates opening from 2 p.m. ahead of the film screening later in the evening.
Several government officials and Nollywood personalities attended the event, including Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat and the state’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson.
Actors and filmmakers at the event included Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
Nigeria’s Recent Guinness World Records
The Black Market feat is not the first time Nigerian individuals, businesses and cultural events have received recognition from Guinness World Records.
In January 2026, Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci secured her third Guinness World Records title after being recognised for the world’s largest serving of rice. Baci and her team prepared 8,780 kilograms of rice during the record attempt held in Victoria Island, Lagos, in September 2025.
- The recognition added to Baci’s previous Guinness records and continued a run of large-scale food-related record attempts involving Nigerian creators.
- In March 2026, Nigeria also hosted a Guinness World Record attempt centred on Afrobeats culture. More than 400 dancers, creators and influencers participated in an event organised by 1win Nigeria in Lagos, which secured a Guinness World Record for a mass Afrobeats dance.
- Nigeria’s corporate sector has also participated in record-breaking events. In October 2018, Dangote Flour Mills set a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest puff-puff pyramid during World Puff-Puff Day.
The company used two metric tonnes of flour for the event, which was organised to promote the Nigerian snack while creating awareness for one of its consumer flour products.
