Black Market Breaks Guinness World Record With 51,000 Viewers In Lagos

Nollywood crime thriller Black Market has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a film screening in a single location, with 51,000 people watching the movie at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.

The record-breaking screening took place on Saturday, September 26, as thousands of movie lovers gathered at the Lagos venue for the highly anticipated premiere.

Guinness World Records confirmed the feat after the screening, officially recognising 51,000 viewers as the qualifying attendance for the record, according to Channels Television.

The figure was based on viewers who stayed for the entire screening. Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, had earlier announced that 64,000 people attended the event.

Organizers had targeted 50,000 simultaneous viewers, seeking to surpass the previous record of 43,624 people, set in 2015 during the screening of the Filipino film Felix Manalo at the Philippine Arena in the Philippines.

The event began with the gates opening at 2 pm, with the red carpet starting at about 3 pm ahead of the main screening at 7 pm. Music, food, games, and other entertainment activities were also held at the venue.

Long queues formed around Tafawa Balewa Square earlier in the day as movie lovers arrived for the event. Among those who attended were Hamzat, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture; Toke Benson; and Nollywood stars including Lateef Adedimeji, Kunle Remi, Stan Nze, Linda Ejiofor, Gabriel Afolayan, and Kunle Afolayan.

Black Market follows the gripping story of five market women who run a cross-border smuggling operation.

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FilmOne, the film’s distributor, also announced the achievement on social media, describing the event as a world record for the largest audience gathering for a movie screening.