Gladiator II, the sequel to the 2001’s Best Picture Oscar winner, has grossed ₦124,063,279 in its first week of release in Nigeria.
That figure put it atop the box office list from November 15 to 21. It means the movie has already become more successful than Joker: Folie a Deux, another sequel made in Hollywood. The second Gladiator, however, has a long way to go, if it will catch up to the juggernaut that was Deadpool & Wolverine, which earned over half a billion naira before bowing out of the box office.
According to Comscore official box office data, the new Gladiator was buoyed by an opening weekend performance, beginning with ₦20,750,659 in ticket sales on Friday, November 15 and peaking with ₦34,096,294 on Sunday. Those figures were slashed by more than half by the next Monday, which yielded ticket sales of just over ₦9m.
Over the next few days, ticket sales held at an average of around 10m each day, culminating in ₦10,320,673 on Thursday, November 21.
Other films on the list
In the number two was another Hollywood sequel, Venom: The Last Dance. The Tom Hardy vehicle has now earned over 200m since it first appeared in the Nigerian box office. Red One, Family Gbese, and Queen Lateefah take the next few spots. While Red One took in ₦19,587,493, Family Gbese and Queen Lateefah earned ₦12,694,125 and ₦12,371,100 respectively in the week under review.
The week’s ticket sales for Queen Lateefah puts Nollywood’s 2024 box office heavyweight at over 350m naira, cementing its place as Nigeria’s film industry highest grosser in 2024.
Gladiator 2 is produced by Scott Free Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was written by David Scarpa from a story he co-developed with Peter Craig. Irish actor Paul Mescal plays Lucius Verus II, nephew of Emperor Commodus, a character played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original film. Lucius is enslaved and returns to Rome, where he fights as a gladiator under a former slaver named Macrinus, a role for which Denzel Washington has received considerable Oscar buzz.
The cast includes Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Connie Nielsen, and Derek Jacobi. Jacobi and Nielsen play the same characters as they did in the first picture.
