Faith-based film Agbara Nla: The Return records Nollywood’s biggest first-day preview gross at ₦70m

Agbara Nla: The Return has recorded the biggest first-day gross for any Nollywood title in preview history at the box office, taking in ₦70 million from 12,134 admissions, ahead of its official nationwide release. The preview screening placed the film at No. 1 for the period and gave it the biggest single-day preview gross ever recorded in West Africa.

The film remakes Mike Bamiloye’s 1993 Christian classic Agbara Nla, also known in English as The Ultimate Power. The original premiered more than three decades ago and became a landmark of Nigerian Christian cinema, distributed primarily through home video at the time.

The remake, produced under Mount Zion Film Productions in partnership with Circuits and Sozo Films, retains the original’s full storyline and brings back Bamiloye himself in his iconic role as Isawuru, with his sons Damilola and Joshua Bamiloye directing the new production.

Agbara Nla’s record-breaking start

The film’s ₦70 million preview gross stands as the biggest first-day gross recorded for any Nollywood title, while its 12,134 admissions mark the biggest first-day admissions figure of 2026. It also posted the biggest single-day October gross, giving the month an early headline moment before the film’s official theatrical run began.

Regionally, the film’s strongest performance tracked closely with its setting: Agbara Nla is a Southwest-set production, and outside Abuja and Kwara, Southwest regions occupied the top spots by percentage of admissions.

Nile Entertainment, the film’s distributor, has promoted the preview run alongside other claims, including the biggest faith-based opener of all time and Number 1 movie of the week, and has said it is working to add more cinema showtimes.

The film’s early commercial strength adds to a broader pattern this year of Nollywood veterans returning to decades-old intellectual property for new theatrical releases. Industry observers point to Agbara Nla as an example of how holding onto original material can turn a low-budget 1990s production into a long-term commercial asset, decades after its first release.

Read also: ‘Call of My Life’ becomes first Nollywood film to cross ₦600 million at the 2026 box office