Nigerians spent less on cinema ticket sales in cinemas as box office revenue dropped by 14.98% in July.
The 14.98% (N85 million) to N482 million comes as a slide from the previous month’s performance, where cinemas nationwide had netted N567 million in earnings.
Mr. Opeyemi Ajayi, the Chairperson of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), revealed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Ajayi disclosed that this decline was not isolated, casting its shadow across all cinemas in Nigeria throughout July.
He stated that the cumulative cinema attendance across the nation tallied up to 218,395. However, while the month boasted a minor increase in cinema viewer numbers due to a string of public holidays, Ajayi encourages more Nigerians to consider visiting cinemas.
The current viewership data and current revenue were influenced by the numerous public holidays in July- Ajayi further encouraged more Nigerians to consider visiting the cinemas during their leisure to unwind.
- “We recorded a total sales of N482,528,117 for July with 218,395 viewers in the cinemas.
- “The cinemas are not doing bad, but we encourage more Nigerians to cultivate the habit of visiting the cinemas,” he said.
The top movie picks in cinemas for the month of August are Akuddaya, Meg 2, Teenage Mutant Minja, A Bag of Trouble, Blue Beetle, Mikolo, The Modern Woman, Retribution and Kesari.
Delving deeper into the numbers, it is pertinent to note that NAN’s report highlighted a contrasting picture: while July witnessed a 3.85% higher viewer admission count of 218,395 compared to June’s 210,299, the latter month showed stronger sales.
More insight
Looking back Nairametrics reported in June that cinema views increased by 13,057 and the sales appreciated by an additional N53 million.
- ”We were able to rake in N567,899,087 for the month of June with 210,299 viewers admission across the cinemas. We have a slight increase in sales in the month of June when we got N567,899,087 and in May we sold N514,653,363 with 197,242 viewers admission,” Ajayi said.
The following movies were showcased in cinemas for the month of July such as “Lust Lobe and Other Things, Mission Impossible 7, Insidious, Orisha, Oppenheimer, Hotel Labamba and Unforgivable.
Nigerian cinemas have encountered its share of challenges earlier in the year, with naira scarcity leaving an indelible mark on the industry’s financial health. This was particularly evident in the sharp drop from N819 million in January to N278 million in February.
The following months also bore witness to the impact, with May grappling with N52 million dip compared to April. Factors encompassing naira scarcity, liquidity crunch, tepid network services, and constrained movie releases amid election season played a part in these fluctuations.
