Black Market sets a Guinness world record as Nollywood heads for its biggest box office year

A Nollywood film now holds the world record for the biggest audience at a film screening. On 26 September, 51,258 people watched Black Market from start to finish at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, a figure confirmed by Guinness World Records. It tops a remarkable year for Nigerian cinema, whose box office took about N8.8bn in the first six months alone.

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A Saturday in Onikan

The record had a strict rule: only people who stayed from the opening frame to the closing credits counted. More than 51,000 did, comfortably beating the 43,624 who watched the Filipino film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena in 2015.

Guinness lists the record under producer Nora Awolowo and her company Rixel Studios, with Damilola Osikoya and Switch Visuals, who staged the screening. Signet Ring Studios and FilmOne Studios are partners on the film, a thriller directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay with Lateef Adedimeji and Omowunmi Dada in its cast. It now heads for a nationwide cinema release.

A box office on a roll

The record lands in a year when Nigerians are filling cinemas. According to FilmOne Entertainment's yearbook, the country's box office earned N15.6bn in 2025. In the first half of 2026 it took about N8.8bn, already more than the full-year totals for 2019 to 2023.

• 51,258people at the record Black Market screening
• N8.8bnNigerian box office, January to June 2026
• N15.6bnbox office for the whole of 2025
• N7.35bnbox office for the whole of 2023

Nairametrics reports industry forecasts of more than N20bn by the end of the year, and BusinessDay suggests Nollywood could out-earn Hollywood films at Nigerian cinemas for the first time.

The films behind the numbers

The year's biggest Nigerian hit is Call of My Life, a romantic comedy starring Uzoamaka Power and Andrew Bunting. It is the first film produced by Booker-shortlisted novelist Chigozie Obioma, with Blessing Uzzi. Released in May, it became the first Nollywood title to pass N600m outside the December holiday season and had topped N850m by August; Nairametrics now puts it past N900m.

• The Return of Arinzo, produced by Iyabo Ojo: the biggest Easter opening, about N350m by mid-year
• Love and New Notes, from Timini Egbuson: a Valentine's release that took N385m in the first half
• Onobiren: A Woman's Story, from Laju Iren: past N100m within weeks

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Behind the numbers is a generation of producers, many of them women: Nora Awolowo, Iyabo Ojo, Laju Iren and Blessing Uzzi are among seven whose films Nairametrics counts as breaking box office records this year. Big audiences, home-grown hits and a world record: 2026 is turning into the year Nigeria's own films became the main event at its cinemas.