Rixel Studios targets Guinness record with 50,000-person premiere for black market

After the box office success of Red Circle, Rixel Studios has unveiled plans for its second feature film, Black Market, with an ambitious attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the largest film screening at a single venue.

The Nora Awolowo-led production company said the film will premiere on September 26, 2026, at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, where it hopes to attract 50,000 attendees. If successful, the event will surpass the current world record of 43,000 people.

The record attempt is being organised in partnership with FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production, with the producers positioning the premiere as a landmark event for Nollywood.

Black Market is Rixel Studios’ second feature film after the 2025 crime thriller Red Circle. The movie stars Lateef Adedimeji, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Itele D Icon, Omowunmi Dada, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Uzor Arukwe, Scarlet Gomez, Folagade Banks and Tomiwa Tegbe. It was shot in Abeokuta, Ogun State, written by Abdul Tijani-Ahmed and Fatimah Gimsay, and directed by Gimsay.

Speaking on the project, Awolowo said the studio is committed to pushing creative boundaries and building on the lessons learned from its debut feature.

“We are excited to go on this journey as a team and we have taken a lot of lessons from our previous film. As young filmmakers, one of our aims is to continue to creatively look for ways to innovate,” she said.

Awolowo founded Rixel Studios at the age of 19 after teaching herself photography before transitioning into cinematography and documentary filmmaking. She gained recognition with the 2019 documentary Life at the Bay and later became the first Nigerian woman nominated for the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) Best Cinematography prize for Lisabi: The Uprising.

Her production company has also executed projects for global brands including FIFA, Canon, Guinness and Showmax.

Rixel’s first feature, Red Circle, became one of Nollywood’s biggest success stories in 2025. Directed by Akay Mason and starring Folu Storms, the film grossed ₦33.8 million during its opening weekend and surpassed ₦100 million at the Nigerian box office within three weeks, making Awolowo the youngest Nollywood producer to achieve the milestone.

With Black Market, the filmmaker is aiming to combine cinema and spectacle, hoping the record-breaking premiere will become one of Nollywood’s most ambitious promotional events to date.