Nollywood's Top Five Leading Producers Whose Movies Were Box Office Hits

Over the years, Nollywood females have shown their dexterity in movie productions. Although some have not been able to hit the mark as expected, others have recorded massive box office success which has made history in Nollywood.

 These ladies can be said to be the Queens of Box Office owing to the returns made from the Cinemas. Their intellectual differences yet similarities have set them apart from the rest making them a force in the industry called Nollywood. Below are the top 5 Nollywood box office leading ladies of our time;


Mo Abudu


Described by Forbes as Africa’s most successful woman, Nigerian talk show host, TV Producer, media personality, human resources management, entrepreneur and a philanthropist Mosunmola Abudu popularly known as Mo has set a pace for success in the Nigerian movie industry.

 The Executive Producer and host of the popular TV show “Moments with Mo” delved into movie making and she has since been a force when it comes to taking over every cinema with her movies. Mo Abudu’s first movie as an Executive Producer is called Fifty which is currently the fourth highest grossing movie ever to hit the Cinema. Fifty’s success comes from the great hard work put into the movie by everyone associated with it. 

That being said, Mo Abudu’s urge and drive for success complemented the hard work that was put into the movie giving it the kind of outcome the movie got. Fifty made over 94 million naira as its domestic gross in the year 2015. Mo didn’t take a step back. In December 2016, she dropped yet another box office hit dismantling whatever record that had been set by any other previous movies in Nollywood. Her second movie, “The Wedding Party” made a whooping sum of 450 million naira making it the biggest and highest grossing movie ever in the history of Nollywood.



Omoni Oboli


Anyone who is familiar with movies sweeping out several sold out shows in the Cinema will know that this Nollywood actress, Producer, filmmaker and scriptwriter Omoni Oboli is usually behind some of it. Omoni Oboli has been defying odds since she stepped into the movie scene.

 For someone who has less than 50 movies to her name, Omoni is doing a wonderful job when it comes to the kinds of movies she makes. Known as the box office Queen, Omoni Oboli attended the prestigious New York Film Academy to study directing and she put the brilliance she acquired in 3 of her movies so far titled Wives on Strike, Being Mrs Elliot and The First Lady. 

These movies were widely accepted by masses and she got the response from the figures she made. However, one movie that stood out amongst the three is her very educative, thought provoking yet hilarious movie “Wives on Strike”. The movie which made over 71 million naira is sitting pretty at the sixth position of the highest domestic grossing movies ever made in Nollywood. 

Omoni has however made it clear that she isn’t done yet as her soon to be released movie “Okafor’s Law” is already gaining world recognition having featured in several Film Festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival and the Pan African Film & Art Festival. The movie is set to hit the cinemas nationwide on the 31st of March, 2017.




Chineze Anyaene

Chineze Anyaene is a Nigerian filmmaker and film producer known for her 2010 critically acclaimed picture ‘Ije: The Journey’. Chineze gave what many had looked forward to for so long with ease when she casted both Nollywood’s top actresses Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jolade. 

The film, shot in Nigeria and the United States tells the story of two Nigerian sisters, Chioma and Anya, and how Chioma travels to the US to help save her sister from being convicted of murder. The film was critically acclaimed, winning the Award of Excellence at the Canada International Film Festival, the Golden Ace Award at the Las Vegas International Film Festival, the Silver Palm Award at the Mexico International Film Festival, the Melvin van Peebles Award at the San Francisco Black Festival, and the Festival Prize for Best International Student at Swansea Bay Film Festival, awarded by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Sheen. Ije

 made a whooping sum of 59 million which is definitely impressive considering the year the movie was produced. Chineze is yet to do another movie however; Ije remains one of the biggest movies in Nollywood till date.




ChinneyLove Eze

ChinneyLove is undoubtedly the youngest successful movie producer currently with her movie “Hire a Man” marking its way as one of the biggest movies already made this year.

 The fabulous romantic themed comedy movie encompasses what makes a movie a hit – from a good script to perfect directing and to an amazing interpretation of roles by the cast. The movie which has made a whooping sum of 5omillion naira already is still showing in the Cinemas currently. With this success, Chinney has proved to us that she is not to be underrated as she has no plans on stopping after this. 

The movie which was accepted widely by the masses and film critics makes its way to Ghana cinemas very soon. ‘Hire a man’ which is in its 5th week in the Cinemas has all tendencies to exceed the already made numbers.



Yewande Sadiku

Yewande Sadiku is regarded as one of the most outstanding female bankers in Nigeria. Sadiku, the Head, Investment Banking of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, produced the screen adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestselling novel, Half of a Yellow Sun. 

The film tells the story of the effect of the Nigerian-Biafran War (1967-1970) through the dynamic relationships between two sisters and their lovers. It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, O.C. Ukeje, Genevieve Nnaji, Onyeka Onwenu and many others. Yewande went to great lengths in actualizing her dreams of producing the movie “Half of a Yellow Sun” According reports, Sadiku had embarked on an Eisenhower Fellowships in the United States of America in 2010. 

The fellowship was the cornerstone of her journey to the actualization of the film, and she was able to bring everything she learnt at the program to bear in structuring the fund raising. Despite its mixed reception from critics,‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ turned out to be a big success making a cinema return of 60million naira as it ranks as one of the top 10 box office hit ever produced in Nollywood.

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