Drama became the leading genre in Nollywood in 2023, with 45.5 per cent of the top 44 Nollywood films released in the box office.

According to a report by film insights publication, In Nollywood in its journal, The Industry, the best-performing films were determined by a ₦50 million gross and above in the cinemas and a top ten rank for more than a week and high audience social interaction for films that had exclusive streaming debuts.

The drama beat comedy as more filmmakers and audiences leaned into the genre, countering the trend in previous years.

It also showed that despite the heavy popularity of projects in the epic genre, they only account for 6.8 per cent, while both crime and action thrillers account for 25 per cent combined.

The cultural epic, also called the “traditional film”, is a thriving Nigerian genre characterised by old Nigerian traditional setting, costume and manner of speaking.

Although drama led the box office grosses ahead of comedy for most parts of 2023, it lost the earnings race to comedy due to the record-breaking feat of Funke Akindele’s `A Tribe Called Judah’.

According to the report, there were only five major comedy projects in the top 40 throughout the year, with a total gross of ₦194.69 million before Akindele’s project made its way to the cinemas.

NAN reports that Akindele’s film has become the first Nollywood film to hit one billion naira in cinemas.

The one billion mark was only ever achieved by Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

(NAN)