With less than three weeks to wind up 2019, Seunmanuel Faleye takes a look at Nollywood titles that premiered on the silver screen in 2019. He x-rays the performances of the best of these movies, the names behind the titles and factors that informed their box office earnings.
When you remember Nollywood in 2019, a deluge of breathtaking titles that serenaded the cinema this year comes to mind. One remembers movies such as Living in Bondage: Breaking Free directed by Nollywood royalty, Ramsey Noah and Bling Lagosians directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters.
Other titles that are worthy of note for their outstanding production quality, stellar casting, and impressive reviews were The Set-Up, directed by Niyi Akinmolayan, Mokalik directed by Kunle Afolayan, Love is War directed by Omoni Oboli.
Also, on the list of movies that stood out in the year were Elevator Baby directed by newcomer, Akay Mason, under the supervision of Niyi Akinmolayan. There was likewise, Kassanova, which was directed by Oluseyi Asurf.
Notwithstanding these interesting theatrical releases which left viewers with what could now pass for a nostalgic cinematic experience, data made available by the Cinema Exhibitors of Nigeria, CEAN, a body that tracks local box office earnings indicate that only two of these movies crossed the N100m box office mark.
2019 Cinema Releases and Their Gross Earnings
Eelive.ng brings you some outstanding 2019 releases and a breakdown of their earnings.
Living in Bondage: Breaking Free N124,538,284
Released November 8, this movie remains the biggest grosser so far this year. The movie closed its first weekend with the sum of N25.8 million and grossed a total of N48.6 million within seven days.
27 years after the original story was released, the duo ofPlay Entertainment Network and Natives Filmworks Production present a sequel of this Nollywood classic, with veteran actor Ramsey Noah, as the lead villain and first-time director.
LIB: Breaking Free follows the story of Nnamdi Okeke, son of Andy Okeke from the original story, Living in Bondage 1, who is an ambitious young man who wants more out of life. Snag is, he can’t afford the kind of life he wants with his current income. An encounter with Chief Ibaka a family friend with a notoriously dark past opens the door to all he has dreamt. But it all comes at a great price, that will change his life forever.
The movie provides a good blend of old and new Nollywood faces, including, Kenneth Okonkwo, Ramsey Noah, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Enyinna Nwigwe, Zulu Adigwe, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Nancy Isime, Munachi Abii and introduced Swanky JKA.
The movie made a total of N124, 538,284 at the cinemas.
Bling Lagosians: N120,323,589
This movie debuted in the cinema in June 2019 and was produced and directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters. With Bling Lagosians, Austen-Peters expanded her rang, by debuting as a film director through this film that promised to deliver comedy and drama but did not deliver impressively on the former.
Bling Lagosians told the story of the upper-class Lagosians, the opulence, panache, and conflict that comes with living on that side of life. This was a niche carved by The Wedding Party, but it did not thrive in the slapstick mode that made the former an instant hit and a viewer’s delight. While Bling Lagosians was honestly enjoyable as a drama, it didn’t deliver the accompanying comedy it promised.
The movie told the story of the Holloways, a reputable family living in Lagos. They hobnob with the high and mighty of the society, their family name is only synonymous with class and luxury. Their biggest family legacy, the high-rise, St. Ives Towers is about to be repossessed by the bank whom they owe billions of unpaid debts.
Akin Holloway would do all within his means to forestall the impending shame about to befall his family name, and this is happening against the backdrop of the planned fifty-first flamboyant birthday Mopelola Holloway, the sophisticated wife of Akin.
Her plan is to make a statement on Society pages headlines, shattering the records she set the previous year with her fiftieth birthday. As Akin moves to halt the birthday plans, she unwittingly sets a series of events into motion that would have repercussions far from pleasant for the Holloway household.
The party is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of naira, and this is after spending an astronomical one million dollars for her 50th. The drama snowballs into a thrilling cinema experience.
At the end of its cinema rounds, the movie made a total of N120,323,589.
The Set-Up: N54,220,715
The Set up was released across Nigerian cinemas on 9 August. Directed by Nollywood box office darling, Niyi Akinmolayan, the movie stars an array of Nollywood sweethearts such as Adesuwa Etomi, Dakore Egbusan-Akande, Jim Iyke, Kehinde Bankole among others.
The movie tells the tale of a retired drug smuggler, who gets more than she bargains for when she is hired by a socialite to assist with his scheme to marry a wealthy heiress.
The movie did N54,220,715.
Mokalik: N46,770,946
Directed by accomplished filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, Mokalik tells the story of eleven-year-old Ponmile whose life changes when he is sent to work as an apprentice at a mechanic workshop far from his home in the suburbs.
This movie has been described as more of a documentary drama than a feature by some pundits, because. It delivers an expository on what a 24 hour looks like at a mechanic workshop. To retain the indigenous flavor of the movie, Afolayan paraded an array of Yoruba film stars like Lateef Adedimeji, Femi Adebayo, Ayo Adesanya, Faithia Williams, Ebun Oloyede, Olayiwola Rasaq.
Other faces featured in the movie are music sensation, Simi, Big Brother Nigeria Star Tobi Bakare among others.
The movie closed at N46,770,946.
Love Is War: N31,192,832
The movie is a political drama directed by box office queen, Omoni Oboli who also features as lead actor. Love is War tells the very contemporary story of a husband and wife.
The Wife, Hankuri Philips is a serving minister of the Federal Republic, who has been announced by the president to be the party’s flag bearer in an upcoming gubernatorial election.
The snag however is, she is not the preferred choice of the party’s stalwarts at the state level for reasons not unconnected from gender bias and her not being an indigene of the state. Her affiliation with the state is only by marriage.
In a twist of plot, her once supportive medical doctor husband is tipped as the gubernatorial candidate of the opposition party. The movie ostensibly draws its title from what ensues afterward.
Richard Mofe-Damijo played Omoni’s pair, although, some pundits have posited that Omoni was not a proper cast for her role, as she is said to lack the clout for a grass-root influencer for her role.
As a couple, however, both RMD and Oboli delivered a class act performance and they both delivered a comfortable blend of the strata of society they re-enacted.
Other stars in the movie were Jide Kosoko, Bimbo Manuel, Femi Branch, Yemi Blaq, and Uzo Osimkpa.
Love is War grossed N31,192,832.
Other titles in this earning category were Elevator Baby directed by Akay Mason, and Gold Statue produced and directed by veteran filmmaker, Tade Ogidan, both earning N30,901,650, and N30,707,252 respectively.
Also worthy of mention were movies like Kasanova (N22,509,000), The Call (N18,174,705), Light in Darkness (N11,180,805) and Nimbe (N10,474,490).
Unpredictability of Cinema Movies
For a fact, earnings of movies during their shows in Nigerian cinemas remain unpredictable and without any definable criteria for success or failure.
Hence, we have witnessed productions in genres like high budget romcoms, action, comedy, slapstick comedy that have previously come to be reckoned as sure cinema earners which have failed to make good showings.
It is just impossible to speculate about what tickles the fancy of the Nigerian audience and the resultant poor earnings from this are beginning to worry filmmakers.
Echoing his worries concerning the recurring dwindling figures of Nollywood movies in the cinema Samuel Olatunji, PR specialist and filmmaker said “These figures from the cinemas should make us worry about Nollywood films.
“We need to up our marketing and begin to ask hard questions. Look at the performances of Nollywood films save Living in Bondage. It is time for the industry (Producers, crew, and actors) to throw their weight behind films they participate in.
“The figures from the market are pointing to one thing, there might be no big players willing to pay big money anymore if the market continues to throw abysmal numbers like this.”
Factors Affecting Cinema Patronage
But observers also suggest that the dwindling box office earnings could be dues to a reduction in the volume of patronage. And concerning this, there are speculations that there might be a few bottlenecks in the operation of cinema outlets in Nigeria, eelive.ng has learned.
Celebrated media executive, Kingsley James, sheds light on this fact, on the aforementioned social media platform, “It’s the culture that is dwindling. I will give you a few reasons. General economic downturn affecting disposable income. Few screens creating additional logistic costs to get to the venue.
“Entry fee not responding to economic power thereby alienating the majority. DSTV/ Iroko TV factor, quality of stories, lack of innovation in marketing.” Corroborating KJV, Seun Oloketuyi, Executive Producer of Best of Nollywood Awards explained that there is the issue of favoritism by cinema exhibitors to the advantage of their favorite production companies and producers.
He also highlighted the issue of bad screening schedules. “Are the movies getting equal opportunities in terms of timing and cinema location. Even the major cinema brands play politics for each other”
A cross-section of filmmakers who spoke to eelive.ng however, insist that there is no alternative to putting the best into every film made in the country.
Bollywood trained Nigerian born director, Hamzat Barshan told eelive.ng “The alternative is more expensive. How do we compete at the global level if we stop giving our best in terms of production value?
“A lot of our movies film Nigeria are beginning to compete at the level of the Oscars, bit for language deficit, Genevieve’s movie would have competed comfortably at movies from other nations. We are getting there. We can’t settle for less than the best.”
A producer and actress, Comfort Olatorera explained to eelive.ng that the Nigerian audience in the 21st century is an enlightened one, give them anything short of the best, and you would lose them to foreign contents.
“As Nigerian filmmakers, we must continue to push the envelopes, our audience is exposed to a lot the foreign movies and only a few are gradually being bought over by few Nigerian movies that impressed them. We can’t afford to lose the trust they’re currently building up for local movies.”
But things may get better…
The low performances of the year notwithstanding, the remaining three weeks to the end of 2019 still holds promises for the industry, eelive.ng can predict. As there are films billed for release later in December that not only have box office honchos behind them but appeared to have carved a niche for themselves to release their films around Christmas and New Year festivals.
Some of these titles are Merry Men 2, by AY Makun which will premiere December 20, Your Excellency directed by Nollywood’s acclaimed funniest woman, Funke Akindele for Mo Abudu’s Ebony Life Production, the movie will open December 13.
While Multi-Award-winning director, Jadesola Osiberu will be returning to the silver screen on 25 December, Christmas day, with her highly anticipated movie titled Sugar Rush.
With these titles lined up for release for the final lap of 2019, LIB: Breaking Free, might just lose the number spot as the highest-grossing movie of the year, you never know.
