EbonyLife Films’ Chief Daddy closed its 2018 record-breaking
run with an astounding N235,469,368 - the highest box-office total for a Nigerian
film in 2018 and the third-highest-grossing Nollywood movie of all time. The
Niyi Akinmolayan film overtook King of Boys and squeezed past Merry Men, the
5th and 4th on the list of highest-grossing films, and into third place behind
The Wedding Party and The Wedding Party 2. This amazing feat makes EbonyLife
Films a producer of all three movies at the top of the all-time box office
chart.
The emergence of Chief Daddy capped the end of a remarkable
year for Nollywood, despite a slow start, in which three films went beyond the
N200 million barrier, a feat only achieved by the Wedding Party movies in 2016
and 2017. Ayodeji 'AY' Makun had his biggest hit to date with the dramatic
comedy, Merry Men, that posted N235.2 million by the end of its run. Kemi
Adetiba's King of Boys was the second big Nollywood movie of 2018, scoring over
N220 million. Also, it was a landmark year for Niyi Akinmolayan, who directed
two films, The Wedding Party 2 and Chief Daddy, that gained no.1 status in the
same year.
One interesting aspect of Chief Daddy’s performance over the
holidays was that, despite Aquaman posting higher revenues due to higher ticket
prices for its 3D and IMAX screenings, many more viewers went to see Chief
Daddy, making it the most-watched movie for the season.
The Niyi Akinmolayan film opened in cinemas on Friday,
December 14th and has maintained the number one position for local movies since
then, despite competing with a strong lineup of holiday releases. And Chief
Daddy is off to a bright start for 2019, with revenues over N14 million on New
Year’s Day, taking it to N250,260,945 in total.
Moses Babatope, COO of FilmOne Distribution is pleased with
the film’s performance. “Our overall goal for Chief Daddy was N200 million,
given the glut of releases on the December schedule, but it reached the target
in just 16 days. It has exceeded our expectations, making it one of a handful
of films that have made 2018 an outstanding year for Nollywood.”
Mo Abudu, Executive Producer, is excited about her film’s
trajectory. “We knew Chief Daddy would do well but it has outperformed our
projections. It’s a little reminiscent of the early days of The Wedding Party,
when all the shows were selling out but we had no idea how far the film would
go. I have to give credit to our amazing cast, who gave so much time and energy
to meeting fans at cinemas all over Nigeria and in Accra - we couldn't have
done this without them.”
Chief Daddy is still showing in cinemas across Nigeria and
at Silverbird cinemas in Accra, Ghana.
