The year 2022 was indeed a very good year for some filmmakers in the industry. Stars like Femi Adebayo made huge money from their movies respectively.
Femi Adebayo’s King of Thieves, epic movie that explores the mystical nature of the Yoruba tradition. As a result of its reminiscence of old Yoruba film where gods were called through invocations and powers laid in little gourds. King of Thieves became a hit, doing 320 million at the box office.
King of Thieves (Agesinkole) generated over 250 million in its first three weeks premiere at the cinema.
According to Femi, the movie cost him several millions of naira to produce, made 43 million in three days at its first opening at the cinema despite being the period of Ramadan.
The highly respected actor cum filmmaker said, his plan was to leave the film at the cinema for two months where it was expected to make not less than 200 million.
In the history of Nollywood, no movie has ever made 43 million in three days of its opening at the cinema, that is the amount some movies will make in three months.
The movie has actually paved way for many producers that are producing indigenous contents.
It took more than a year to produce this award winning movie, so the success was expected.
The movie which happens to be his first traditional film is also rich in Yoruba culture and tradition.
The movie King of Thieves (Agesinkole) is a star studded movie. An epic tale of Agesinkole an all powerful bandit and his reign of terror in the prosperous kingdom of Ajeromi.
The kingdom made moves to destroy him through the hunters, witches and priests, thus beginning the adventurous saga of revenge, bravery and glory.
Many were not surprised at the huge success Femi Adebayo’s King of Thieves (Agesinkole) recorded at the cinema, considering the huge hardwork that was put into making it, like spending over a year in a particular production, spending over 100 million, and also going for the very best in the industry from the crew to the A-list stars.
In the last 2 decades, star actress, Funke Akindele has recorded massive success back-to-back in the movie industry. Just when fans were still praising her huge success with her movie Omo Ghetto The Saga, Funke yet again set the standard so high with another massive success from her latest movie “Battle On The Buka Street”.
Funke Akindele’s 2022 film “Battle On The Buka Street”, has been reported to gross about 61,000 dollars in cinema in the United States. The film, directed by Funke was distributed by Film One and Part Two Media.
The film which centres on the rivalry of two women with food business on the same street became the first indigenous Nigerian film to be released in the United States.
The cast of the film includes Funke Akindele, Mercy Johnson, Tina Mba, Tobi Makinde, Femi Jacobs, Sola Sobowale, Kelvin Ikeduba, Nkem Owoh, Femi Jacobs, Wunmi Toriola and others.
The award winning movie did beyond expectation both in the U.S. and Nigeria. The movie made 135 million in one day, and it remains the number one Nollywood film in 2023.
It was premiered on Sunday December 11, 2022.
“Battle On The Buka Street” grossed a whopping 67.99 million on New Year’s weekend topping the list of movies with highest weekend gross in Nigeria in 2022.
The movie had also topped the chat box in the Christmas weekend as Nigeria in the usual fashion during festivities trooped to the cinema to entertain themselves with blockbuster movies.
The Nigerian film industry is recognised as one of the largest film producers in the world, contributing about 1.1 percent to Nigeria’s real GDP and value at over 780 billion in real terms.
The movie debuted on 16th December, 2022, raked in a sum of 361.36 million, with over 132,500 viewers in just less than three weeks.
Despite the huge success the movie recorded in December, it is still not slowing down, as many are still rushing to the cinemas both home and abroad to watch this outstanding movie.
Just few days ago, the actress announced that the movie has hit 601.3 million, and it is still showing in cinemas.
Toyin Abraham is also one of the leading actresses cum filmmakers in the entertainment industry.
Her latest movie “Ijakumo” also made huge success in the cinema during the festive period. It was released to the market on the 23rd December, 2022.
Toyin Abraham’s Ijakumo grossed 31 million in three days, rated one of the biggest drama of 2022 and second biggest indigenous language film.
The multi-talented actress took to her Instagram page to celebrate her success. According to her “I have broken my last record. Thanks to everyone who has seen the movie. The movie hit 136m in 11 days, and still showing in cinemas within and across the country.”
The movie starred veteran Nollywood actors like Antar Laniya, Kunle Remi, Debbie Shokoya amongst others.
It was also distributed by Film One Studios.
The National President Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria. (CEAN) Mr. Opeyemi Ajayi revealed there have been an appreciable increase in revenue generated in 2022 compared with the previous years.
According to him “the box office movies raked in 4.74 billion naira in 2022, 2.1 billion in 2020, 6.4 billion naira in 2019 and 5.98 billion in 2018 “For 2022, the increase in average ticket price led to the revenue growth and admissions remained flat in previous year”
“And with breakout success of big Nollywood movies such as Brotherhood, Battle On Buka Street, King of Thieves and others, 2023 is expected to have a larger budget movies and potential release outside the West Africa Territory.
Ajayi listed the top five highest grossing Nollywood films in 2022 as Brotherhood, King of Thieves, Battle On Buka Street, Ijakumo and Passport.
These three highly celebrated super stars have also been rated as top grossing actors and film maker of 2022.
– Abiodun Alao
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