From Stage To Screen To Stream: How Nollywood Keeps Rising

The Nigerian film Industry has made giant strides from shoestring budgets to investing hundreds of millions to tell our stories. Now one of the greatest employers of labour, SAMUEL ABULUDE writes on the marketing, sales, and patronage of Nollywood movies

The Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood has come of age. From the traveling theater troupes of the 1960s to the global streaming dominance of 2026, the Nigerian film industry popularly known as Nollywood has undergone one of the most radical technological and cultural transformations in media history.

Today, Nollywood stands as the second-largest film industry in the world by volume, but its journey was paved by resilience in the face of economic collapse and a relentless spirit of making it work.

The Golden Age: Celluloid and Traveling Theaters (1960s–1980s)

Before the Nollywood brand existed, Nigerian cinema was rooted in the rich tradition of Yoruba Traveling Theater. Pioneers like Hubert Ogunde and Ola Balogun transitioned from stage to screen, filming on 35mm and 16mm celluloid.

Movie stalwarts like Adebayo Salami popularly known as Oga Bello, witnessed the travelling theatre phase of the movie industry and hailed the pioneers and players that made it work. There was high production value, manifested via the screening in grand cinema halls like Glover Memorial Hall.

There were cinemas owned by foreign companies during this era until the indigenization policy by the military government crippled them.

The devaluation of the Naira in the 1980s caused a decline in movie production as

importing celluloid and equipment became prohibitively expensive. This was when cinema culture faded as security concerns and economic hardship kept people indoors.

The Video VHS Revolution (1992–2000s)

The modern industry was born not in a studio, but in the bustling electronics markets of Lagos. This was when the Direct-To-Home (DTH) era brought films to the homes of viewers. In 1992, electronics merchant,  Kenneth Nnebue had a surplus of blank VHS tapes and decided to use them to shoot a movie. The resulting film, Living in Bondage, was a massive hit. It proved that Nigerians didn’t need expensive celluloid or theaters; they were hungry for local stories they could watch in their living rooms.

This era brought a new approach to the production style of movies as they were shot in ten days on shoestring budgets. Distribution was Informal in this era as neighborhood video rentals and street hawkers were used. This was when movie production was entrenched as the system allowed more films to be shot within weeks to maximize time and profit. This era established the name ‘Nollywood’ name creating a pan-African cultural phenomenon.

Many actors and producers were made during this era. Nollywood got the attention of the global world. There was a need for practitioners to create a system for the industry to thrive but piracy dealt with the system.

Oga Bello, veteran actor and producer

Who spoke in an earlier interview on the challenges of the era and beyond said, “The movie industry has a problem of distribution up till now. Go and look for a producer who has made it through distribution. I stand to be corrected but I must tell you that. Even I have lamented so much. Let’s talk about the cinema houses now, they take the larger percentage, which is not good enough for the producer.

“How will you produce another movie when you’re unable to recoup your money? Coming to the Yoruba sector you’re talking about, they’ve tried their best. You cannot eradicate piracy all over the world. The enabling law for piracy is very bad, it’s not strong enough. If a pirate steals a work and realises about a hundred million and the only punishment in court is fifty thousand, hundred thousand naira fine, won’t he pay and go back for it? Except there’s a strong punishment for it, that’s how we can scale through. That’s where the government did not look at our side at all which is quite unfortunate. I don’t want to apportion blame but all I know is that filmmaking has a distribution problem.”

The Return Of Cinemas  (2009–2020)

By the late 2000s, audiences were tired of repetitive plots and movies shot to exploit the viewer.  ‘The Figurine’ movie made by movie director, Kunle Afolayan released in 2009 is often cited as the turning point that sparked the New Nigerian Cinema. This era saw a return to the big screen, with higher budgets, professional cinematography, and corporate sponsorships. Cinema theatres and multiplexes began popping up in malls across Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, shifting the focus from quantity to blockbuster quality.

Many producers made money during this era though pirates were still lurking around the corner. 30 Days In Atlanta released in 2014 by AY Makun made a record as the first movie to hit the box office record.

Before 2014, the benchmark for a hit Nollywood film was relatively low. Films like Ije (2010) and October 1 (2014) had hovered around the N50M–N60M mark.  30 Days in Atlanta didn’t just break the record; it doubled it, grossing approximately N137 million. It earned a spot in the 2017 Guinness World Records as the highest-grossing film in the domestic territories of Nollywood, Bollywood, and Hollywood, a feat that signaled Nollywood’s commercial maturity to the world.

Technology has played a major role in the evolution of the Nigerian film industry. With modern equipment used in shooting movies, the terrain has changed as young movie makers and practitioners have taken the industry by storm

The Streaming Era & Global Domination (2020–2026)

The arrival of global giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, alongside local players like IrokoTV has de-territorialized Nigerian film.

In 2024–2025, local films accounted for over 56% of total domestic box office revenue, outperforming Hollywood imports. The year 2025 was a watershed moment where local films officially outperformed Hollywood imports in Nigerian cinemas. Total cinema revenue hit N15.64 billion, a massive leap from N11.58 billion in 2024.

Top Grossing Films of 2025:

Behind The Scenes (Funke Akindele) –N2.76 Billion (Highest of all time)

Oversabi Aunty (Toyin Abraham) – N1.17 Billion

Gingerrr (Wumi Toriola) N522.8 Million

Ori: Rebirth (Muyiwa Ademola) – N419.5 Million

Reel Love (Kayode Kasum) – N356.8 Million (Done in tabulated form and attached)

Nigerian creators are no longer just selling licenses; they are co-producing content with international studios, leading to films like Hussaini (2026) gaining traction at European festivals like Nollywood Week Paris.

Technology Impacts Evolution

With the Nigerian movie industry touted as the New Oil, the sector is set to add to the  Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create more employment for teeming youths.

This, according to the National Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Amb (Dr) Queen Blessing Ebigieson (QBE) will require the right investment and measured government support.

Do people still buy CDs and flash drives?

The answer is yes according to QBE because there still exists a market for it but it is minimal.

“In Lagos, you see Yoruba and Igbo movies being marketed in DVDs (CDs) in major markets like Oshodi but such are also products of piracy which still exists in the movie industry. In Asaba and parts of Enugu,  you can watch movies on DVDs and the major thing is for the producer to recoup his or her investment in the movie production.

“Movie-making is an intricate business that needs to be mastered with time. As Nollywood grows, there will be more money to make and there will also be saboteurs who will want to reap where they have not sown. We need a system to clear them out,” says the guild head.

Are streaming platforms killing the once-booming local film industry? Top movie director, Abay Esho says no, as streaming platforms are adding alternatives for creatives and movie producers to showcase their products and creativity.

“The cinemas as well as the streaming platforms are outlets to screen the movies or works that filmmakers have produced. The Television is another veritable platform which needs to be maximised,” he said.

The film industry has evolved over the decades with heroes crowned and making their impact in the sands of time. Storytelling has been done in the past through travelling theatre and then via celluloid, and then through DTH Video which birthed Nollywood. It got improved through VCD/ DVD. Then the new Nigerian

Cinema arrived in 2010 and got boosted with the arrival of streaming platforms as film makers who know their onions smile to the bank. The YouTube platform has been a major game-changer in telling our stories. The movie industry will continue to evolve while there is a clarion call to build systems that endure and optimize.