A new report published by film insights in The Industry Journal has named drama as the leading genre in Nollywood for 2022. According to the publication, the drama genre made up 45.5 percent of the top 44 Nollywood titles released at the box office last year.
This conclusion was made after examining films that grossed a minimum of ₦50 million in cinemas. Other qualifying factors include social interaction for films that debuted exclusively on streaming platforms and maintained a top-ten ranking for over a week.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reports that drama beat comedy because, unlike previous years, filmmakers and audiences leaned into the genre. In addition, the report also showed that crime and action thrillers combined account for 25 percent, while projects in the epic genre only account for 6.8 percent.
Although the drama genre had the highest gross at the box office for most of 2023, Comedy ultimately won the earnings race due to Funke Akindele’s `A Tribe Called Judah’ record-breaking achievements.
The report states that only five major comedy projects appeared in the top 40 films of 2023. Earning a combined total gross of ₦194.69 million. But comedy got a boost after the release of Akindele’s project.
Per NAN, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ is the first Nollywood film to hit one billion naira at the Nigerian box office. The only other production to earn a billion naira is Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.