Why we are doing Receipts
A lot of us want to go into film, whether that means Nollywood, a streaming deal or one day Hollywood, and most of what we hear about the business is talk. Who is making money, how much, and who signed for what rarely makes it into the conversation. Receipts is where we put the numbers on the table, every fortnight and one creative industry at a time, so that you can price, pitch and plan with something real in front of you. We are starting with film.
Where the industry is right now
Nigerian cinemas took ₦15.6 billion in 2025, 35 percent more than in 2024, and across West Africa Nollywood took a bigger share of the box office than Hollywood for the first time on record. The country now has 122 cinemas and 369 screens, up from 63 cinemas and 218 screens in 2019, and by the first week of November 2026 cinemas had already taken ₦15.49 billion, more than the whole of last year, with almost two months still to go.
The figure I want you to sit with is admissions. More than 5.1 million tickets were sold in 2019 and 2.79 million in 2025, while the average ticket went from about ₦1,200 to about ₦5,600. The money is growing because each seat costs more, which means the next stage of growth has to come from bringing more people through the doors, and that is the opportunity for whoever makes the films they want to see.
The five films and the people who made them
Call of My Life sits at the top, having closed its run at ₦902.3 million. Blessing Uzzi produced it through BluHouse Studios with the novelist Chigozie Obioma, Uzoamaka Power wrote it and plays the lead, Dammy Twitch directed his first feature and FilmOne Entertainment put it in cinemas. Agbara Nla: The Return is second with ₦462.2 million from 77,440 tickets as of 5 November, which has just made it the tenth biggest Nollywood film ever, and it is still climbing every week because it is still in cinemas. It is a Mount Zion Film Productions classic remade 33 years on, directed by Damilola Mike-Bamiloye, produced by Chris Odeh of Sozo Films with Circuits, and distributed by Nile Entertainment.
Love and New Notes took ₦400.2 million for producers Timini Egbuson and Muyiwa Idowu of Film Trybe and director Kayode Kasum. The Return of Arinzo took ₦348 million for Iyabo Ojo, who produced it under Fespris Production and directed it as her first feature. Onobiren took ₦138.2 million for Laju Iren, who wrote and executive produced it through Laju Iren Films, with Famous Odion Iraoya directing. FilmOne distributed all three.
What the five have in common
Every one of these films opened outside December, a month this industry treated for years as the only safe window. A Valentine's release, an Easter release and a May release all made serious money, so the calendar is wider than it used to be.
Four of the five went out through FilmOne, which tells you how much the distributor matters. Two of the five were first features from their directors, so a debut is no barrier when the producer, the script and the release are right. And Call of My Life opened with ₦78.2 million and grew that more than eleven times, which no advertising budget buys. That growth came from people telling people.
What gross really means
A box office gross is every naira paid at the ticket counter. The cinema, the distributor and the taxman each take their share before the filmmaker sees anything, and how much depends on the deal. When you read ₦902.3 million, read it as roughly 150,000 people and the size of the pie, then ask who signed for which slice. If you are going into this business, that is the first question to learn to ask.
Next fortnight, Receipts follows the money in music.
Sources
BusinessDay, "Nigerian box office hit historic N15.6bn in 2025 as Nollywood films get more views than Hollywood for first time", 6 January 2026
Nollywire, "Nigerian Box Office Nears Full Reset as 2026 Gross Hits ₦8.8B", 3 July 2026
Nairametrics, "Nollywood: Meet 7 producers making box office history in 2026", 17 October 2026
ShockNG, "7 Biggest Nollywood Movies Box Office Hits So Far In 2026", 10 June 2026
The Eagle Online, "Agbara Nla grosses N408.3m, becomes Nigeria's second biggest Nollywood film of 2026", 26 October 2026
Film Intelligence Digest, "2026 Hits New Box Office Record, Overtakes All of 2025 as Agbara Nla Enters the Nollywood Top 10!", 6 November 2026