EbonyLife Group founder Mo Abudu has dismissed allegations that Nigerian cinemas deliberately sabotage certain Nollywood films, insisting that screening decisions are driven by audience turnout and business realities, not favouritism.
Speaking on Arise Television alongside actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Abudu addressed rising complaints from producers like Toyin Abraham, Niyi Akinmolayan and Ini Edo, who accuse some cinemas of sidelining their movies with poor time slots, reduced screens and attempts to divert viewers to rival titles. Omotola acknowledged that she has repeatedly heard such complaints from actors and fans who say they were pressured to watch different films from the ones they intended to see.
Abudu stressed that she could not defend all operators but maintained that EbonyLife Cinemas does not engage in such practices and operates strictly as a professional, profit driven venture. She explained that with five screens and around 30 showings a day, cinemas must prioritise films that can fill seats because of high running costs, including electricity, air conditioning and staff wages.
Using her own family as an example, Abudu revealed that a film produced by her daughter Temidayo Abudu was pulled from cinemas last year after poor turnout, arguing that no movie can be kept in prime slots when only a handful of people show up in a 100 seater hall. She said underperforming titles must give way to better selling films, regardless of who produced them, because there is “no sentiment” in the business of cinema exhibition.
Her comments come amid growing tension between filmmakers and cinema owners, especially during the lucrative December season, when multiple big releases compete for limited peak hour slots. Producers like Abraham, Akinmolayan and Edo have accused some cinemas of declaring shows falsely sold out, collecting ticket money without screening films and using “gatekeeping and intimidation,” claims that continue to fuel debate about transparency in Nigeria’s cinema ecosystem.
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