Faith-Based Movie, Agbara Nla Breaks Nollywood Box Office Record With N71m Preview Revenue
Faith based Yoruba film Agbara Nla: The Return has recorded more than N71 million at the West African box office from preview screenings, setting several box office records ahead of its nationwide cinema release last Friday.
The film sold more than 12,000 tickets during the preview period, with figures from Nile Entertainment and Nigerian box office records showing that it achieved the highest single day preview revenue reported in West Africa and the biggest preview admission figure for a film in 2026.
The strong performance marks the return of Agbara Nla to cinemas 33 years after the original Yoruba Christian film became one of the notable productions in Nigeria’s faith based movie industry.
According to early box office figures, Agbara Nla: The Return earned about N70 million from 12,134 admissions during its preview screenings. This placed it at the top of the weekly box office despite being screened ahead of its official release.
Nile Entertainment, the distributor of the film, later confirmed that the movie’s earnings had crossed the N71 million mark.
The preview performance also saw Agbara Nla: The Return record the biggest first day gross by a Nollywood film, the highest single day gross and the largest single day box office revenue recorded in October.
It also became the biggest opening for a faith based production at the West African box office.
Lagos emerged as the film’s strongest market, accounting for 50.8 percent of its reported revenue. Oyo followed with 13.2 percent, while Abuja contributed 10.7 percent. Ogun accounted for 6.2 percent, followed by Kwara with 4.5 percent, Osun with 3.8 percent, Edo with 3.3 percent and Ondo with 2.7 percent.
Rivers contributed 1.9 percent, while Plateau and Akwa Ibom recorded 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively. Delta and Enugu each accounted for 0.4 percent, while Abia and Kaduna contributed 0.3 percent apiece.
Cross River and Kano each represented 0.2 percent of the reported earnings, while Anambra contributed 0.1 percent.
The figures highlight the film’s strong performance in the South West, with Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun and Ondo together accounting for about 76.7 percent of the reported revenue.Outside the South West, Abuja recorded the strongest performance, contributing more than 10 percent of the film’s early earnings.
The film’s preview performance placed it ahead of several major titles during the period. Star Lomo recorded N45.8 million from approximately 7,900 admissions, while Avengers: Endgame: Encore earned N44.2 million from 7,549 admissions.
Spider Man: Brand New Day generated N34.5 million during the period, taking its cumulative West African gross above N2.3 billion.
In its second week, Resident Evil earned N29.8 million from 4,214 admissions, lifting its cumulative gross to N76.1 million.
Other films on the chart included 19, which recorded N18 million, and Heart of the Beast, which earned N16 million. The Odyssey added N13.3 million to its earnings, taking its cumulative gross to N871.8 million.
King Kosoko and Ikenga recorded N8.9 million and N7.7 million respectively.
The performance of Agbara Nla: The Return comes amid growing commercial interest in faith based and faith influenced productions in Nigeria.
In 2024, What About Us, the filmmaking debut of Celebration Church International’s lead pastor, Emmanuel Iren, earned N24.6 million during its opening weekend. The film emerged as the highest grossing movie in Nigerian cinemas during that period.
It later surpassed N100 million at the box office, becoming the seventh Nigerian film to reach the milestone in 2024.
The trend continued in 2026 with Onobiren: A Woman’s Story, directed by Laju Iren. The faith based drama opened with N30.1 million between March 6 and 8, topping the weekend box office in Nigeria and Ghana.
The results position the return of Agbara Nla as one of the strongest recent performances by a faith based production at the West African box office, even before its official theatrical run began.
