How Timini Ogbuson defied historic 60% drop to land ‘Love & New Notes’ at N362M

Timini Ogbuson’s ‘Love & New Notes’ movie set a record with an opening weekend of N106 million at the Nigerian box office, but then experienced a massive 60 percent drop in revenue during its second weekend, primarily attributed to simultaneous religious fastings.

This 60 percent decline, revealed by Victoria Ogar, Head of Distribution at FilmOne Entertainment, during the Filmmakers Forum organised by the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, was the lowest a Nollywood film had experienced due to the fasting period and was significantly steeper than the typical 20 to 35 percent drop seen in other high-grossing films.

To combat this historic slump, Ogbuson implemented an aggressive post-release marketing campaign, which included leveraging his large social media following to promote the film with skits and features from cast members and other Nollywood producers such as Funke Akindele. Despite the massive initial drop, this push helped the film rally to become the highest-grossing film released in 2026, with earnings exceeding N362 million.

Ogar noted that movies generally see drops in box office revenue after the opening weekend, which is usually between 20 percent and 35 percent. She noted that the 60 percent drop was the lowest a Nollywood film has experienced due to the religious fasting of both Christians and Muslims, which began on the same day.

Ogar revealed that Ogbuson took an aggressive post-release marketing campaign to get viewers going back to the cinemas to watch the film. Ogbuson’s campaign, which involved social media skits to promote the film, gained a large impression. With 2.8 million followers on Instagram, he was able to garner millions of impressions with movie promotions on social media platforms featuring cast members and other Nollywood producers such as Funke Akindele.

The premier, which was held on February 8, 2026, saw both movie and music icons come to watch the movie. The premier saw social media influencers who came in to view the movie and speak about it on their social media platform. These all led to the record-breaking opening weekend, which also fell in the Valentine period.

This move further backs FilmOne’s report that digital channels such as Influencer marketing, TikTok, and Instagram videos are the most effective channels of marketing. In 2025, these channels contributed 27 percent and were the top three on the marketing effectiveness score, all having above 75 percent of turnaround to box office revenue, according to FilmOne. Non-digital campaigns like the premieres and strategic meet and greets also proved effective.

Ogar, during the forum, emphasised the critical role of marketing in the success of films within Nollywood, stressing that even the best-produced movie remains invisible without strategic promotion. According to her, “marketing is very key to everything when it comes to product selling, product strategy and positioning, and even just brand awareness.”

She pointed out that a film, as a conceptualized idea brought to life on screen, requires deliberate efforts to make audiences aware of its existence and connect with its vision. Ogar argued that no matter how compelling the story or technical execution may be, filmmakers cannot shy away from marketing because “you cannot have a product and you do not market it… How much more when you have a film.”

Ogar further explained that effective marketing helps immerse viewers into the film’s world, allowing them to align with characters or appreciate technical aspects such as cinematography, sound design, or directorial choices. She noted that different audiences approach films differently, some for pleasure, others for technical analysis, and the quality of marketing tools like posters, trailers, and skits directly influences whether people decide to watch.

Ultimately, while marketing gets audiences through the door, the film’s ability to deliver enjoyment determines long-term success and word-of-mouth impact.

Ogar pointed out that FilmOne had to engage with Ogbuson to change strategy and engage with fans via social media. “This was difficult for him because he was filming other projects, but he had to go meet other actors in various locations to create content to promote the film. In week 4, Timini had to go meet Uncle Odun on set to shoot content. These are the sacrifices you need to make as a filmmaker; these are the things that sustained the movie,” she said.