Nigerian Box Office Nears Full Reset as 2026 Gross Hits ₦8.8B

In the first half of 2026 alone, the Nigerian box office has crossed ₦8.83 billion, led by ‘Call of My Life’.

As the Uzoamaka Power-led romcom climbs to No. 5 on the all-time chart, the performance outpaces the ₦7.75 billion recorded in the same period in 2025, with a broader shift coming into view: the near-complete exit of the films that defined the market just six years ago.

Currently, only one title from the 2020 top 10, ‘The Wedding Party’, remains on the list. With major December releases still ahead, that final holdover is expected to drop out, marking a full turnover of the chart within a single decade.

The change is not just about titles. It reflects a sharp expansion in scale.

In 2020, the highest-grossing film peaked at ₦453 million, with the rest of the top 10 largely made up of releases from 2016 to 2019, including ‘Chief Daddy’, ‘King of Boys’, and ‘Merry Men’. The chart moved slowly, with older hits holding their positions for years.

By 2026, the ceiling has shifted significantly. ‘Behind The Scenes’ leads the chart at ₦2.75 billion, followed by ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ (₦1.88 billion) and ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ (₦1.4 billion). Most of the current top 10 is made up of films released from 2021 onwards, pointing to a faster replacement cycle and a rebounding box office.

At the centre of this shift is a sustained run of high-performing releases. Since 2021, Funke Akindele has delivered a new film each year that reset the all-time box office record. The five titles, ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga’, ‘Battle on Buka Street’, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’, ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’, and ‘Behind The Scenes’, now sit within the top 10, occupying half of the chart.

Alongside this, Toyin Abraham has…