Nollywood's 2026 box office: the producers and films cashing in

Nollywood is having a strong year at the box office, and the numbers are in.

Nigeria's box office brought in about N8.8 billion in the first half of 2026, per BusinessDay and Nairametrics. Nairametrics included that number in an Oct. 17 feature on "Nollywood: Meet 7 producers making box office history in 2026."

The heavy hitters

Top of the Nollywood pile is romantic comedy Call of My Life, from producer Blessing Uzzi. BusinessDay's H1 report has it as the top Nollywood title at N686.8 million, while Hollywood's Michael led all Hollywood releases with N790.9 million. Nairametrics goes further and calls it the highest-grossing Nollywood film of 2026, past N900 million. The figures differ, and BusinessDay's covers only the first half of the year, so treat the exact total with care.

Elsewhere in the profiles, Nairametrics says Laju Iren's Onobiren: A Woman's Story earned N138.1 million over a seven-week run. The same piece notes that a faith-based production opened to N170.6 million, including previews, a record for the biggest non-December Nollywood opening.

The October contender

Agbara Nla: The Return has grossed N354.5 million, becoming the highest-grossing film released in October, per QED.ng. The outlet reports it is the third highest-grossing Nollywood title of 2026.

Distributor Nile Entertainment announced the milestone in a social media post, per QED.ng and Western Post. QED.ng says the post went up on Monday, while Western Post says Tuesday. Punch also reported the figure, saying the film leads the Nigerian box office.

Damilola Bamiloye and Joshua Bamiloye directed the remake, which revisits the Christian drama created by Mike Bamiloye. He reprises his role, per QED.ng.