Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror-thriller is proving too stubborn to overthrow
“Sinners” Crowned Highest-Grossing Film of 2025 with Strong ₦71.9 Million Fourth Weekend Performance
BY Henry-Damian Justice
May 14, 2025
4:33 pm
For the fourth consecutive weekend, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” has dominated the Nigerian box office, pulling in an impressive ₦71.9 million between May 9 and May 11. It’s yet another hugely remarkable display of staying power for the R-rated vampire-thriller, posting only a 20% decline from its previous ₦89 million haul the weekend before (May 2 – May 4, 2025), per Nigerian box office on X.
As of this writing, “Sinners” has amassed a staggering ₦567 million nationwide, officially making it the highest-grossing film of 2025 in Nigeria—far ahead of the romantic drama “Reel Love,” which trails with ₦350 million.
Interestingly, the film regained what’s rightfully its after momentarily ceding the top spot last Sunday (May 4) to the indigenous epic “Ori: The Rebirth,” which earned ₦39.3 million against the vampire horror- thriller’s ₦33.7 million.
What’s perhaps more impressive than its box office dominance is “Sinners” softer-than-usual week-on-week drop. The film opened with ₦106 million (including Thursday previews), declined a mere 0.3% in its second weekend, fell by 16% in its third, and now shows a modest 22% drop in its fourth. Globally, the film is just as resilient; it currently has $287.1 million, $217 million of which comes from the United States.
Just as “Sinners” positive reviews are good news for vampire horror-thrillers, its performance is also a positive signal for the Nigerian exhibition sector. The box office finished April with a 13.4% increase in admissions over the same period in 2024, recording ₦1.29 billion in earnings—a 62.5% rise from last year.
Below are the highest-grossing films in Nigeria for the Weekend of May 9 – May 11, 2025,
- “Sinners”: ₦71.9 million (Weekend 4)
- “Ori: The Rebirth”: ₦63.2 million (Weekend 4)
- “Thunderbolts”: ₦41.2 million (Weekend 2)
- “Shadow Force”: ₦11.6 million (Weekend 1)
- “Owambe Thieves”: ₦11.6 million (Weekend 4)
- “Makemation”: ₦8 million (Weekend 4)