Recently, actress and filmmaker Mercy Aigbe has been sharing multiple posts from fans and colleagues, accusing cinema staff of discouraging people from watching her films. According to the posts, attendees at various cinemas were reportedly encouraged to choose other movies over her latest film. Some even claimed that her movie was screened in halls with faulty air conditioning and poor-quality screens.
Expressing her frustration in an online video, Aigbe shared the emotional toll of producing her latest film, Thin Line, stating that she poured immense effort, pain, and dedication into the project, only to face obstacles from certain individuals who seemed intent on undermining her work.
One fan’s message recounted, “Good day, ma. I went to see Thin Line at Festival Mall yesterday afternoon, but the ticket attendant told me not to, claiming the screen was faulty. I then drove to Maryland Mall, but the staff there also warned me against watching it, saying the AC wasn’t working. They even suggested I watch The Waiter instead. I left feeling very upset. Please let those who can help know about this.”
Actor Jamiu Azeez confirmed the fan's account, adding, “I can vouch for the Maryland Mall situation. When I went for the meet-and-greet, the AC in the Thin Line hall wasn’t working, and staff were warning people before they bought tickets. This discouraged many attendees, so I had to ask them to support the film despite the uncomfortable conditions.”
Actor Femi Branch also shared his thoughts, stressing that cinema staff should not dictate which films people choose to watch. He said, “It’s not the cinemas’ job to tell people what films to watch. We've been facing a lot of problems at cinemas lately, especially this December, with reports of fights and other issues. The industry is already divided, and cinemas shouldn’t add to it. Many producers are struggling with low returns on their investments. Cinemas should remain neutral and stop hindering the industry’s progress.”
Actor and former Big Brother Naija contestant, Pere Egbi, thanked Branch for his input, adding that despite investing around N200 million in a film, he only earned N53 million in cinemas, while his take-home was a mere N8 million. He lamented, “I had to leave Nigeria and go back to America to earn a living and pay back a kind woman who lent me the money. At this point, I don’t care about being blacklisted. If things don’t improve by January’s end, I’ll release the film on YouTube myself. Enough is enough.”
In a similar vein, an anonymous actress revealed that, aside from the treatment faced by filmmakers, the cinemas also take an excessive cut of the earnings. “Cinemas often take up to 70% of the revenue from a film, which is far too much. Filmmakers are burdened by this. They might take 60% in the first week for established filmmakers, reducing it to a 50/50 split in later weeks. For newcomers, it could be as much as 70%, then dropping to 60%. On top of that, filmmakers still have to pay distributors about 12%, plus another 5% in taxes.”
However, a director, who chose to remain anonymous, defended the cinema operators. The director explained, “Cinemas tend to favour the films that generate the most revenue because they are more profitable. This is why they encourage producers to step up their promotional efforts. It’s not that cinemas are deliberately shortchanging filmmakers; they also have significant overheads and infrastructure costs to manage.”
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