Nollywood crime thriller Black Market has set a new Guinness World Record after 51,000 people watched the film at a single screening at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos.
The record-breaking screening took place on Saturday, September 26, 2026, as thousands of movie lovers converged on the Lagos landmark for the unprecedented premiere.
The organisers had targeted at least 50,000 simultaneous viewers in an attempt to surpass the previous record of 43,624 people, set in 2015 during a screening of the Filipino biographical film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena.
Following the screening, the filmmakers announced the achievement, celebrating the turnout as a landmark moment for Nigerian cinema.
“We just made history! 51,000 people!!! World record breakers!!”
The figure recognised for the Guinness record, however, was lower than the total attendance reported at the venue.
Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, was reported to have put the overall attendance at about 64,000 people. The Guinness qualifying figure was based on spectators who met the record requirements, particularly those who remained at the venue for the duration of the screening.
The distinction means that while approximately 64,000 people may have passed through or attended the event, 51,000 were counted as qualifying viewers for the record.
How Black Market broke the record
The record attempt was built around a large-scale outdoor cinema experience at TBS.
The gates opened at about 2pm, with entertainment activities, music, food and games taking place ahead of the main screening. The film was scheduled to screen from 7pm to 8:30pm, with the organisers requiring eligible spectators to remain throughout the movie.
The massive turnout transformed the TBS grounds into a temporary cinema, with thousands of Nigerians gathering to watch the same film simultaneously.
The event attracted government officials, entertainers, filmmakers and other prominent personalities. Among those reported at the screening were Hamzat, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson, as well as Nollywood actors and filmmakers including Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Gabriel Afolayan and Kunle Afolayan.
What Black Market is about
Black Market is directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abdul Tijani-Ahmed.
The crime thriller centres on five women involved in a cross-border smuggling operation. Their lives take a dramatic turn when the daughter of one of the women is kidnapped, setting off a chain of events that drives the story.
The film features an ensemble cast including Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Lateef Adedimeji, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Ibrahim Yekini, popularly known as Itele D Icon, and Uzor Arukwe, among others.
The movie was produced by Rixel Studios in collaboration with FilmOne Studios and Signet Ring Studios, with Switch Visuals Productions involved in the record-breaking screening event. FilmOne Entertainment is handling distribution.
The filmmakers had promoted the September 26 event for months, positioning it not only as the premiere of Black Market but also as an attempt to demonstrate the ability of Nollywood to mobilise a huge cinema audience outside the conventional cinema environment.
Previous record held by Felix Manalo
Before the Lagos screening, the record stood at 43,624 viewers, achieved during the 2015 screening of Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena in the Philippines.
The Black Market screening therefore surpassed the previous benchmark by 7,376 qualifying viewers.
The achievement adds another major entry to Nigeria’s growing list of Guinness World Records, particularly in entertainment, food and popular culture.
Nigeria’s Guinness World Records streak
Nigerians have recorded a number of Guinness World Records achievements in recent years.
Celebrity chef Hilda Baci became a three-time Guinness World Records holder after her 2025 cooking feat was subsequently recognised under two record categories. In September 2025, Baci and Gino prepared 8,780 kilogrammes of Nigerian-style jollof rice in Victoria Island, Lagos. Guinness World Records later confirmed that the feat also qualified for the record for the largest serving of rice.
Baci had previously set the Guinness record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual in 2023, when she cooked continuously for 93 hours and 11 minutes.
Nigeria has also recorded Guinness recognition in the corporate and food sectors. In 2018, Dangote Flour Mills was reported to have broken the record for the world’s largest puff-puff pyramid, using two metric tonnes of flour to produce more than 30,000 pieces of the Nigerian snack.
The Black Market achievement now extends that record-breaking tradition into the Nigerian film industry, with 51,000 qualifying spectators gathered at one venue to watch a Nollywood production simultaneously.
