LAGOS, Nigeria (XOL Africa) — Nollywood crime thriller Black Market has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a film screening in a single location, after 51,000 people watched the movie at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos.
The record-breaking screening took place Saturday, with thousands of moviegoers gathering at the Lagos venue for the premiere. Guinness World Records recognised 51,000 viewers as the qualifying attendance, surpassing the previous record of 43,624 set in 2015 by the Filipino film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena.
“51,000+ people. One screen. One moment that just made history,” FilmOne Studios, the film’s distributor, said in a statement shared on social media.
The qualifying figure was lower than the overall attendance announced by Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, who said about 64,000 people attended the event. Guinness World Records based its count on viewers who remained at the screening from the beginning of the film through to the end.
The announcement prompted celebrations, cheers and fireworks at the venue.
Organisers had targeted at least 50,000 simultaneous viewers in an attempt to surpass the previous record. The 43,624-person benchmark had been established during the October 2015 premiere of Felix Manalo in the Philippines. Guinness World Records lists the Philippine screening as the previous record for both largest attendance at a film screening and largest audience at a film premiere.
The Black Market event was scheduled to begin with the opening of the gates at 2 p.m., followed by a red carpet at about 3 p.m. and the main screening at 7 p.m. The programme also featured music, food, games and other entertainment.
The screening attracted government officials and members of Nigeria’s film industry, including Hamzat, Lagos Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture Toke Benson and Nollywood actors Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
Directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay and co-written by Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed, Black Market follows five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation whose lives are disrupted after the daughter of one of them is kidnapped.
The film stars Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Itele D Icon and Uzor Arukwe, among others.
The screening was organised by Rixel Studios in collaboration with FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production. The event was planned as an official Guinness World Records attempt to surpass the 43,624-attendance record established by Felix Manalo in 2015.
SUPPORT AFRICAN BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Help XOL Africa expand independent business reporting across Africa.
SUPPORT XOL AFRICA →
