The box office recorded a major milestone over the January 23–25 weekend as ‘Oversabi Aunty’ officially crossed the ₦1 billion mark, becoming one of Nollywood’s highest-grossing titles of all time and the defining story of the frame.
“‘Oversabi Aunty’ also crossed the 1 billion mark,” the NGA Box Office confirmed in its weekend commentary. The film now stands as the fourth highest-grossing Nollywood movie of all time and the fifth highest-grossing film in West Africa by pure naira grosses, with a cumulative total of ₦1.015 billion.
In its sixth week in cinemas, ‘Oversabi Aunty’ added ₦40.1 million over the weekend. While the film recorded a natural late-run dip, its continued ability to draw audiences underscores strong legs and sustained word-of-mouth well beyond the December holiday window. The billion-naira milestone arrived in what the NGA Box Office described as a “fair and decent” weekend. “This is what you should expect in the last week of January,” the commentary noted, adding that “it’s the December spillover still dominating.”
That dominance was most evident in ‘Behind the Scenes’, which once again topped the weekend chart while setting another historic benchmark. “Admissions crosses 400,000,” the NGA Box Office stated, confirming the film as the third most-watched movie in Nigerian box office history, behind Black Panther (2018) and Omo Ghetto: The Saga (2020).
The scale of the achievement is sharpened by speed. “It took ‘The Wedding Party’ 17 weeks to achieve 401k admissions. This has done that in just seven weeks,” the NGA Box Office noted, calling the performance “very phenomenal”. ‘Behind the Scenes’ has now grossed over ₦2.4 billion, with projections suggesting it could end its theatrical run between ₦2.6 and ₦2.8 billion, depending on February holds and incoming releases.
Hollywood titles continued to contribute steadily to the market. “‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ also crosses 600 million box office in Nigeria,” the NGA Box Office confirmed, as the film pushed past another major milestone despite softening weekly returns. New releases made polite rather than disruptive entries.
‘Mercy’ debuted with approximately ₦15.9–₦16 million, a result the NGA Box Office described as “very, very decent”, particularly given its limited release footprint. Beyond that, the weekend offered few surprises. “Nothing really special or nothing really blockbuster level at this point of the season,” the commentary observed.
Elsewhere on the chart, mid-tier titles continued their gradual climbs. ‘Colours of Fire’ added another ₦5 million, pushing its cumulative total past ₦142 million and heading toward the ₦150 million mark. ‘A Very Dirty Christmas’ also edged closer to ₦140 million, contributing an additional ₦2 million over the weekend.
Overall, cinemas generated approximately ₦185 million across all titles during the frame, reflecting a typical late-January slowdown. Still, ‘Oversabi Aunty’s’ billion-naira breakthrough stood out as the weekend’s defining moment, a clear signal of how sustained audience interest and strategic holiday positioning can translate into long-tail box office success.
