Nollywood has broken new ground in global record-keeping, as the Guinness World Records body officially certified the largest audience gathering ever assembled for a movie screening, following a turnout of more than 51,000 Nigerians at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.

The historic crowd had gathered to watch the crime thriller Black Market, and the achievement was confirmed live on the giant screen at the venue on Saturday night, when a Guinness World Records official announced that the attendance figure had crossed the 51,000 mark.

FilmOne, the company distributing the film, announced the milestone in a statement posted across its social media platforms on Saturday.

“51,000+ people. One screen. One moment that just made history,” FilmOne said.

“We’ve officially set a WORLD RECORD for the Largest Audience Gathering Ever for a Movie Screening.”

The distributor further stated, “Nigeria, we didn’t just watch a movie. WE MADE HISTORY.”

Our correspondent reports that the Tafawa Balewa Square was filled to capacity with cinema enthusiasts who converged on the venue for the screening.

Hundreds of attendees had begun streaming into the venue well ahead of the scheduled start of the event.

The screening had originally been conceived as a deliberate bid to secure a Guinness World Record, with organisers setting a target of gathering 50,000 people at a single location.

Proceedings began with the opening of the gates at 2pm.

A red-carpet session followed at about 3pm.

The main screening itself was billed to run between 7pm and 8.30pm.

The venue witnessed an overwhelming turnout, with long queues of movie lovers stretching all the way to the TBS roundabout as people arrived for the event.

Beyond the film screening, the event also featured music, food and games for attendees.

Several celebrities and other notable personalities were also spotted at the venue.

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, arrived at the venue at about 8.50pm.

Celebrities spotted at the event included Gabriel Afolayan, Real Warri Pikin and Tomi Ojo.

Black Market was produced by Rixel Studios, Signet Ring Studios and FilmOne Studios, and distributed by FilmOne.

The film was directed by Fatimah Binta Gimsay and produced by Nora Awolowo.

Its cast includes Omowunmi Dada, Lateef Adedimeji, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Ibrahim Yekini (popularly known as Itele D Icon), and Uzor Arukwe, among others.

The crime thriller centres on five market women drawn into a cross-border smuggling operation amid fuel scarcity and mounting economic pressure.

The plot takes a dramatic turn when the daughter of one of the women is kidnapped.

The event received backing from the Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, alongside several corporate partners.