Entertainment
Fun Seekers Lavished N636m On Movies In July …Nollywood Got Only N20m
The cinema culture in Nigeria continues to thrive with movie goers spending N636 million in the month of July. This is a 58 percent increase from the N402.9 million spent in theatres across the country in June. Despite this spike, Nollywood releases in July accounted for a small portion of ticket sales with foreign films dominating sales.
Most of the earnings went to foreign block buster’s like ‘Spider Man’, ‘Far From Home’ and the newly released ‘Lion King’, while less than N20 million went to Nollywood. The month started off on a great note from a box office perspective for indigenous films with the ‘Blind Lagosians’ topping the chart from June 28th to July 4th 2019.
During this period, the film which has been dubbed the best Nollywood movie of 2019 made N37 million. The top 20 films grossed a total of N100.7 million during those seven days. This changed with the release of Spider man, Far from home in June 5th 2019.
The Disney/Marvel Super hero film pushed the Nollywood film to second place with a total earning of N129.9 million over seven days. The directorial debut of Bolomle Austin Peters followed on to its second position making an additional N18.8 million, while movie goers spent a total of N105.6 million from July 12th to 15th, 2019.
By the following week, it had moved to the third place and earned another N13 million, this was due to the release of Disney’s remake of the classic lion king which led to a spike in cinema revenue (167.1 million) the highest of the entire month.
By the end of the month (July 26-August 1, 2019), the Blind Lagosians was in fourth place and the only Nigerian movie on the top five list. It earned a total of N107.8 million, while the top 20 films brought in N136.9 million.
Overall, movie goers spent a total of N636 million through out the month of July other high earning Nollywood movies in July were ‘Mokalik,’ N5.5 million, ‘Rent queens’ N3.98 million, ‘Executioner’ N1.5 million and ‘The Gift’ N1.4 million.
According to business inside sub sahara report,, Nollywood films are doing better at the box office, but still losing to foreign movies. Despite spending over N500 million in June only a small portion went to Nigeria movies.
Popular businessman and socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, aka Cubana Chief Priest, has said that his relationship with singer Davido is beyond money and gossip.
He stated this in a recent interview with BBC Igbo.
“Davido is my friend. He is my in-law; he married Chioma who is from Imo State where I hail from.
“So the relationship I have with Davido is beyond money and gossip,” he said.
DAILY POST reports that Chief Priest disclosed via his Instagram page that his outfit for the wedding of the singer, Davido and his wife, Chioma, in Lagos on Tuesday cost seven million Naira.
The socialite recently appreciated Davido for not “discarding” Chioma.
He stated that the DMW boss has made Imo State proud by choosing to marry from the state.
Nigerian singer Simisola Kosoko, popularly known as Simi, has lent her voice to the ongoing anti-tax hike protests in Kenya.
The Tide’s source reports that Kenyan youths are marching against tax hike in widespread demonstrations tagged ‘RejectFinanceBill2024.’
Five people were shot dead and dozens wounded after police clashed with protesters who stormed the parliament building in Nairobi on Tuesday, according to Amnesty Kenya.
Reacting via her X handle on Tuesday night, Simi declared her support for the demonstrators.
She stated that “it is both powerful and heartbreaking for a people to have to fight and die for freedoms and rights.”
The singer wrote, “I stand with the people of Kenya. It is both powerful and heartbreaking for a people to have to fight and die for freedoms and rights. Godspeed and Strength. [Hash tag] RejectFinanceBill2024.”
In a series of other posts, she wrote: “Wow. When you’ve had enough, the fight is almost inevitable.
“African leaders- have not you done enough?
“I can’t wait for the day Africa is not a weapon fashioned against Africans. All of this amazing Black power and human resource, but the majority are not likely to thrive unless they run.”
Famous Nigerian Afrobeat singer, Davido was spotted among other top artistes at Asake’s ‘Lungu Boy’ tour concert in Atlanta, Georgia.
Asake’s performance at his sold-out show at the 17,000-capacity State Farm Arena in Atlanta began on August 16, 2024, and is set to run for 10 days.
In a trending video on social media, Davido appeared backstage with American rapper Quavo to support Asake during the live performance.
Other musicians in attendance included Nigerian hitmaker Zlatan and American rapper Russ Millions.
The Tide’s source reports that Asake’s ‘Lungu Boy’ tour is set to cover six U.S. cities, where he will headline notable venues including Madison Square Garden in New York, the Toyota Center in Houston, and the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Asake’s tour comes just days after the release of his latest hit, ‘Lungu Boy,’ which features several superstars, including Wizkid, British rappers Central Cee and Stormzy, Travis Scott and Brazilian singer Ludmilla.
‘Lungu Boy’ set a new record for the biggest opening week on Spotify Nigeria, garnering 18.9 million streams in its opening week and breaking the previous record of 14.4 million streams held by Davido’s ‘Timeless.’