Agbara Nla: The Return, Mount Zion Film Productions’ remake of its own early-1990s gospel drama, has grossed NGN408.3m ($304,000) in Nigerian cinemas since it opened on 1 October, its distributor, Nile Entertainment, said in an Instagram post on Monday 26 October. Nile said the film had been the country’s No. 1 title for four weekends in a row and was still playing nationwide.
Key facts
- Agbara Nla: The Return (Nile Entertainment): NGN408.3m ($304,000) in Nigeria after four weekends from a 1 October release, Nile Entertainment says; not confirmed by CEAN
- Up NGN53.8m, by Nile’s figures, on the NGN354.5m it reported after the third weekend
- Previews and opening weekend: about NGN71.4m from previews and NGN99.2m over 2–4 October, roughly NGN170.6m in all, Premium Times reported
- Second among 2026 Nollywood releases, Nile says, behind Call of My Life (a reported NGN902.3m as of 1 October)
- Outside Nigeria: $120,660 over its opening weekend at selected cinemas in the UK and Canada, Nile says
The total makes the film the second-biggest Nollywood release of the year so far, behind Blessing Uzzi’s romantic comedy Call of My Life, which had reached a reported NGN902.3m ($671,000) by 1 October, according to box office tracker Nollywood.com. On the flyer that came with Monday’s post, Nile also billed Agbara Nla: The Return as the “highest-grossing film ever released in October” and the “highest-grossing faith-based title of all time”, without saying how far back either record runs. The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), which compiles the industry’s weekend charts, has not confirmed the total or either claim; the latest totals, the ranking and the records are Nile’s own.
A run built on a fast start
The film opened on Nigeria’s Independence Day. Premium Times reported that it took about NGN71.4m from preview screenings and a further NGN99.2m over its first weekend, roughly NGN170.6m across previews and the opening weekend and, by that paper’s reckoning, the biggest start for a Nigerian film outside the December holiday season. BusinessDay put admissions for the previews and opening weekend at 28,468. In its review on 18 October, Premium Times put the total at NGN307.2m. Nile has credited a nostalgia-led campaign that included work with the Mount Zion community and endorsements from church leaders.
The latest step adds NGN53.8m in the week to the fourth weekend. By Nile’s count the third weekend alone took NGN47.5m, against NGN99.2m on the first. One other 2026 Nollywood release outside December is reported above NGN400m: Kayode Kasum’s Love and New Notes, at about NGN400.5m by 13 October, according to Nollywood.com figures cited by BusinessDay. December traditionally produces Nollywood’s biggest earners. BusinessDay’s list of hits released outside it also includes two 2025 titles, Gingerrr (NGN522.9m) and Ori: The Rebirth (NGN419.6m), on FilmOne’s yearbook figures.
Call of My Life, distributed by FilmOne Entertainment, opened on NGN76.5m in May, below the NGN99.2m first weekend of Agbara Nla: The Return. FilmOne said in June that it had been No. 1 for six consecutive weekends and was the first Nollywood release outside December to pass NGN600m. Nollywood.com still had it in cinemas after 20 weeks.
The film and its makers
Brothers Damilola Mike-Bamiloye and Joshua Mike-Bamiloye directed the film, which Damilola wrote and Chris Odeh produced. It reworks Agbara Nla, the Mount Zion production that Mike Bamiloye created in the early 1990s and that was later adapted in English as The Ultimate Power. Sources differ on the original’s year. The film’s official site gives 1991, but Mike Bamiloye has dated the production to 1993, after an abandoned 1987 shoot, as do Premium Times and BusinessDay.
Mike Bamiloye returns as Isawuru, the herbalist who holds the village of Muwonleru in fear, opposite Philip Olubakin and Remilekun Mosiko as a city couple who give up their jobs to take the Christian gospel to the village. Gloria Mike-Bamiloye, Damilola Mike-Bamiloye and Aanu Kolade Abiodun also star. The film runs in Yoruba and English and was made by Mount Zion, which has put faith stories on screen since 1985, with Circuits and Sozo Films.
Nile Entertainment, which began operations in August 2024, handles the Nigerian release. Overseas, Nile announced releases in the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada, with IFEC as its partner in Europe; in Canada, Renaissance Media opened it on 16 October, according to listings site Tribute.ca.
What to watch
The next CEAN weekend report should show whether Nile’s figures match the industry count and how steeply the film is now falling. A further NGN92m would take it past NGN500m. Abroad, the diaspora audience that delivered the UK and Canada opening is the market to watch as more territories are added.
For more on Nigerian releases and local hits elsewhere, see the Independence Day release of the documentary MKO and the local titles driving other markets, such as Matloub Aelian in Egypt and Kuasa Gelap: Perjanjian Darah in Indonesia. For who controls the route to audiences, see our look at distribution.
Our reading
A faith film from a ministry studio is now Nigeria’s second-biggest local release of the year, and it got there on nostalgia and church networks rather than a December slot. For distributors, that confirms that Nollywood’s calendar is no longer fixed on the holiday season, and that a recognisable property with a built-in audience can open as strongly as the year’s biggest non-December hits. The caveat is that the latest totals and both records are the distributor’s own. The CEAN chart, and how the film holds over the next two weekends, will show whether this is a lasting run or a fast front-loaded one.
Sources
- Punch, 26 October 2026
- The Eagle Online, 26 October 2026
- Premium Times, 18 October 2026
- BusinessDay, 19 October 2026
- Punch, 20 October 2026
- QED, FilmOne on Call of My Life, June 2026
- The Guardian Nigeria, Mike Bamiloye on the original Agbara Nla
- Nollywood.com, Call of My Life box office page
- Agbara Nla: The Return official site (Mount Zion Film Productions)
- Nile Entertainment on LinkedIn, international release
- Tribute.ca, Canadian release listing
- xe.com mid-market rate, 25 October 2026 (NGN1,345/$)