Is There a "Cabal" Controlling Nollywood Cinema Times? Mo Abudu Sets the Record Straight

Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Cinema

In the world of Nollywood, rumors often spread faster than a blockbuster movie trailer. One of the most persistent stories involves the existence of a "cabal", a secret group of powerful people who supposedly decide which movies get the best showtimes and which ones are pushed into the shadows.

In a recent session on Arise News titled Nollywood: The Marketing Effect, superstar Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and media mogul Mo Abudu sat down to address this head-on. The conversation quickly turned into a masterclass on how the cinema business actually works in Nigeria.

The host didn't hold back, asking if it was true that a background group works against certain producers. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde admitted that many people in the industry believe this is happening. She noted that some producers have claimed their customers were "diverted" to other movies, and fans have even reported going to see one film only to be talked into watching another.

To many filmmakers, it feels like a targeted attack. But Mo Abudu, speaking from the perspective of a cinema owner with EbonyLife Cinemas, offered a very different explanation.

Mo Abudu was firm, the idea of a cabal controlling screens is not true for a professional business. She explained that a cinema’s survival depends entirely on one thing: Return on Investment (ROI). To prove her point, she broke down the numbers that many people overlook.

At EbonyLife Cinemas, there are five screens. Each screen shows movies about six times a day. That adds up to 30 screenings a day, or a massive 900 screenings a month. Even if you only count the "peak hours" (the popular times people like to go), that is still 450 slots.

"One movie cannot dominate 450 screenings in a month," Mo explained. "There is enough room for all major films to be seen."

So, why do some movies lose their showtimes? According to Mo, it’s about the bills. Running a cinema is expensive. You have to pay for high-powered air conditioning, staff salaries, and electricity.

If a movie is playing in a hall with 100 seats, but only two or three people show up to watch it, the cinema is losing money. In that situation, the cinema cannot afford to be sentimental. If people aren't paying to see a movie, that movie will be replaced by one that people do want to see.

Perhaps the most shocking part of her explanation was how she treats her own work. Mo Abudu revealed that when her own film didn’t perform well at the box office last year, she had to move it out of her own cinema!

"There is no sentiment," she insisted. Whether the movie belongs to her, a famous actor like Omotola, or even her own daughter, the rule is the same: If you can’t fill the seats, you lose the slot.

The "cabal" rumor makes for a great story, but the reality is much simpler: the cinema is a business. A cinema owner’s biggest goal is to have every seat filled. They don't want to work against a movie; they want to work with movies that bring in the crowd.

In the end, it isn't a secret group that decides which movie stays on the screen, it is the audience. If the fans show up, the movie stays. If they don't, the business must move on.