“Sinners” Breaks Into Nigerian Box Office’s All Time List

Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” is going into its fifth weekend with an eye-catching record. The vampire horror-thriller has crossed the ₦600 million mark at the Nigerian box office.

 

It’s not just any number: unadjusted for inflation, this is the tenth-highest grossing film of all time in Nigeria and the sixth biggest foreign film in the country.

 

Considering the movie’s incredible legs and word-of-mouth, a ₦700 million finish is all but guaranteed. A little further than that would see it surpass “Deadpool and Wolverine” to become the third highest-grossing international film in Nigeria, behind “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (₦1 billion), and “Black Panther” (₦818 million).

 

By the time you read this, “Sinners” must have already made its way one position up, displacing “Mufasa: The Lion King”—another very legg-y 2024 film—as the ninth-highest grossing film of all time.

 

Admission-wise, it’s a not-so-impressive story. “Sinners” is outside the Top 50 of films with the most ticket sales in Nigeria, well beyond league leaders “Everybody Loves Jenifa,” “A Tribe Called Judah,” “Black Panther,” “Omo Ghetto: The Saga” and “The Wedding Party.”

 

What’s more impressive is that “Sinners” is doing all these with two weights on its back: being an original film and being in the horror genre. For reference, the top seven grossing foreign films in Nigeria are dominated by action-packed flicks and comic book films.

 

“Sinners” is also one of the highest-grossing original films in the U.S. at $223 million.

 

Below are the Top 10 Highest-Grossing Films in Nigeria (as of May 17, 2025)

 

1. “Everybody Loves Jenifa”(2024) – ₦1.88 billion
2. “A Tribe Called Judah” (2023) – ₦1.40 billion
3. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022) – ₦1.04 billion
4. “Black Panther” – ₦ 818 million
5. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” – ₦750 million
6. “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024) – ₦706 million
7. “Battle on Buka Street” (2022) – ₦668 million
8. “Omo Ghetto: The Saga” (2020) – ₦636 million
9. “Mufasa: The Lion King” (2024) – ₦620 million
10. “Sinners” (2025) – ₦606 million

 

Below are the Top 13 Highest-Grossing Foreign/International Films in Nigeria (as of May 17, 2025)

 

1. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022) – ₦1.04 billion
2. “Black Panther” – ₦ 818 million
3. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” – ₦750 million
4. “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024) – ₦706 million
5. “Mufasa: The Lion King” (2024) – ₦620 million
6. “Sinners”(2025) – ₦606 million
7. “Avengers: Endgame” (2025) – ₦528 million
8. “The Woman King” (2022) – ₦462 million
9. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” (2024) – ₦458 million
10. “Aquaman” (2018) – ₦452 million
11. “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) – ₦450 million
12. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”(2022) – ₦435 million
13. “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022) – ₦433 million