By OLADELE ENIOLA

West Africa Cinema Industry recorded strong performance in 2025, generating a total box office gross of N15.6 billion from theatrical releases across the region.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the figure, compiled by FilmOne Entertainment, represents admission of 2.79 million cinema goers with 248 new releases screened across 122 cinemas in West Africa.

According to the scorecard, 16 movies crossed the N200 million mark, while 14 Nollywood films earned above N100 million as the average movie ticket price for the year stood at N5,596.

FilmOne Entertainment emerged the highest grossing distributor of the year, while ‘Behind The Scenes’ ranked as the highest-grossing Nollywood title.

Other category leaders include ‘Zootopia 2’ as the highest grossing animation, ‘Sinners’ as the highest grossing Hollywood title and ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle’ as top-grossing anime.

The data further showed that Nollywood accounted for 49.4 per cent of the total market share, closely followed by Hollywood with 48.8 per cent, while films from China and Liberia contributed 1.2 per cent.

In terms of volume, there were 81 Nollywood films, 92 Hollywood releases and 52 Indian titles screened during the year, thereby highlighting the diversity of content available to audiences.

With the figures underscoring a growing cinema culture and increasing appetite for both local and international stories, the West African box office is expected to maintain upward trajectory in the coming years. (NAN)