Horror Genre Rules Nigeria’s Box Office with “Final Destination: Bloodlines” and “Sinners”

For the first time in Nigerian box office history, two horror films have simultaneously claimed the top spots, a sign that the Nigerian audience are drawn to the gore of R-rated horror-thrillers more than ever.

Over the May 16–18 weekend, “Sinners” and “Final Destination: Bloodlines” emerged as the dominant forces at cinemas nationwide.

The sixth installment in the “Final Destination” series of films—and the first in 14 years—debuted with ₦47. 5 million in Nigeria, including ₦4.5 million from midweek previews. It’s the biggest debut for a horror film in the market, aside “Sinners” itself.

The film also appealed nicely to its home audience as evidenced in its $51 million North American debut and topping of the U.S. box office—becoming not just the franchise’s best-ever opening, but also the highest post-COVID launch for an R-rated horror movie.

An impressive figure such as this still wasn’t enough to topple Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” which grossed ₦48.4 million, retaining its spot as the No. 1 film in Nigeria for the fifth straight weekend.

Just last week the vampire horror-thriller broke into Nigeria’s all-time box office Top 10. With a current cume of ₦650 million, it has already overtaken “Mufasa: The Lion King” as the ninth highest-grossing movie in Nigeria.

Per Nigerian Box Office on X, Below are the Top Six highest-grossing films (May 16 – 18).

1 Sinners: ₦48.4 million (Weekend 5)

2 ⁠Final Destination: ₦43 million (Weekend 1)

3 ⁠⁠Ori: ₦40.6 million (Weekend 3)

4 ⁠⁠Thunderbolts: ₦24 million (Weekend 3)

5 ⁠⁠Raji and the Beast: ₦6.5 million (Weekend 1)

6 ⁠⁠Owambe Thieves: ₦6 million (Weekend 5)