The Wedding Party, a blockbuster Nollywood movie from the stable of Ebonylife Production has continue to shatter the glass ceiling in movie production in Nigeria in all facets with the announcement that the movie has raked in N450 million so far.
According to the figures released in an announcement made on Sunday by Ebonylife Production at the Sky Lounge, Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, The Wedding Party is now the highest grossing Nigerian movie with total box office takings now in excess of N450 million.
The movie premiered in cinemas across Nigeria in December, 2016 grossing N203 million in just two weeks, topping the 2016 Nigerian Box Office and becoming the highest-grossing Nollywood film ever.
The Wedding Party continued its record-breaking streak in 2017 with further takings in excess of N247 million bringing its combined total to N450 million. The achievement by The Wedding Party easily surpassed the summation of the previous record of the three highest grossing Nollywood movie held by A Trip To Jamaica, Wives on Strike and The CEO, which grossed N168 million, N71 million and N60 million respectively.
The wedding-themed costume party at Eko Hotel, according to Mo Abudu, executive producer of the movie, was in appreciation of the feat achieved for the first time by a Nigerian movie. “We set out, quite deliberately, to make a high-quality film that any Nigerian would be proud of and could relate with. ‘The Wedding Party’ has shown that the best Nollywood movies can beat the Hollywood blockbusters in their home territory. For the first time, Nollywood is competing with Hollywood at the Box office and winning…” Mo Abudu assured.
To further underscore the success of the movie at the cinema, Mo Abudu explained that from the FilmHouse IMAX cinema in Lekki, to the Genesis Deluxe cinema in Owerri; from Viva Cinema in Ilorin to Silverbird in Abuja, the long ticket queues and sold-out viewings are true testaments to the cinema success of the movie.
Besides the announcement of the recording earnings of the movie, another highlight of the party was the cutting of a four-tiered cake by the ‘celebrants’ while bonuses were presented by the Elfike Collective to its hardworking cast and crew including Kemi Adetiba, the director of the movie.
The Wedding Party was set in Lagos, it is the story of Dunni Coker (Adesua Etomi), a 24-year-old art gallery owner and only daughter of her parents, about to marry the love of her life, IT entrepreneur Dozie (Banky W). The movie cast comprises of some of the biggest names in Nollywood.
