Nigerian actress and filmmaker, Toyin Abraham, has notched a box office milestone with her directorial debut ‘Oversabi Aunty’, becoming the first Nollywood filmmaker to cross the 1 billion naira threshold. The comedy, which she also produced and starred in, follows her second-place standing behind Funke Akindele as a producer to achieve such earnings with a single title.
The film has grossed N1.02 billion, ranking as the fourth-highest-earning Nollywood movie. It is poised to overtake Akindele’s ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’, which stands at N1.12 billion.
Abraham’s previous productions show consistent performance. ‘Alakada: Bad and Boujee’ (2024) earned N500.6 million. ‘Malaika’ (2023) grossed N303.5 million. ‘Ijakumo: The Born Again Stripper’ (2022) made N278.5 million. ‘The Ghost and the Tout Too’ (2021) brought in N134.4 million. The original ‘The Ghost and the Tout’ (2018) earned N77.2 million. ‘Alakada Reloaded’ (2017) grossed N74.3 million.
Heavy marketing drives success in Nollywood films. Funke Akindele’s ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ reached over N1 billion through tactics like outdoor posters on 200 Lagos lamp poles, social media campaigns leveraging her 16 million Instagram followers, celebrity collaborations, and festive-season releases. She also used branded merchandise and behind-the-scenes content for engagement. Abraham mirrored this with social media skits, themed content, and cinema meet-and-greets, expanding audience reach and boosting ticket sales in a competitive market.
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