MOVIES NIGERIANS WERE GLUED TO IN 2021

TOP 5 TRENDS ON GOOGLE IN 2021

If you missed the athletes who trended in 2021, you've made it to the second list. We look at Google's list of items across various categories that trended in 2021. This time, we're talking movies. The gradual return to normal life after the pandemic-stricken 2020 featured a release of a lot of movies and anticipated series, especially the final season of Money Heist. 

Google Trends brings us the films that kept Nigerians glued to their screens and also took them to their favourite search engine.

So, let’s go. Also feel free to check out the carousel posts on our Instagram account. Now, the countdown:

5. Red Notice

Red Notice
Release date	12/11/2021 (Global)
Main cast	Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot
Budget	$200 million
Box office	Undisclosed
Rating	IMDb: 6.3/10	Rotten Tomatoes: 36%
Production Company	Netflix Studios

Synopsis

In the world of international crime, an Interpol agent attempts to hunt down and capture the world's most wanted art thief.

Another action comedy movie featuring superstars Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, Netflix's most expensive production yet earns fifth spot on the list. Already renewed for parts 2 and 3, the movie almost has it all. Ryan Reynolds stars as an art thief who has to work with Dwayne Johnson in bringing down the villain, Wonder Woman star, Gal Gadot. The three stars each pocketed a tidy $20 million to appear in the movie.

The movie grossed over 364 million watching hours in its first 28 days of release, making it Netflix's  most watched film in that category, as well as the most watched on its debut weekend. It probably should have ranked higher if it came out earlier in the year, but it sure did enough to land fifth spot.

It also features Rita Arya and Chris Diamantopoulos.

4. Black Widow

Black Widow
Release date	09/07/2021 (Nigeria)
Main cast	Scarlett Johannson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz
Budget	$200 million
Box office	$380 million
Rating	IMDb: 6.7/10	Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Production Company	Marvel Studios

Synopsis

Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy, and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

With seven awards and multiple nominations already, Black Widow turned out to be a big success. The stand alone movie for the Avengers superstar garnered over $226 million in its first week alone. Written in just 11 days astonishingly, and despite being initially turned down by director, Cate Shortland, the Marvel superhero movie, captured global audience and being one of the few movies of its genre to be released, the anticipation that built around it since 2020 was enough to make it hit number 4 spot in Nigeria.

Other stars in the movie include Olga Kurylenko, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, and William Hurt.

3. Sex/Life

Sex/Life
Release date	25/06/2021 (Global)
Main cast	Adam Demos, Sarah Shahi, Mike Vogel
Budget	Undisclosed
Box office	Undisclosed
Rating	IMDb: 5.4/10	Rotten Tomatoes: 22%
Production Company	De Milo Films for Netflix

Synopsis

SEX/LIFE is the story of a love triangle between a woman, her husband, and her past that takes a provocative new look at female identity and desire.

One of the two series to make the Top 5 list, the eight episodes single season tells the story of Billie Connelly, a happily married housewife and mother of two. She feels she is living the happily ever after life, until the day she begins to ask herself if it is truly the happy life.

The series revolves around her, her supportive husband, her ex from her past who tries to win her back, and her close friend, a psychologist who tries to convince her that being a happy wife is the best life.

The movie received negative reviews and despite being renewed for a second season, the signs do not look very good for the erotic themed series. It did enough though, to notch third spot on the list.

2. Coming to America 2

Coming to America 2
Release date	05/03/2021 (Nigeria)
Main cast	Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Jermaine Fowler
Budget	$60 million
Box office	Undisclosed
Rating	IMDb: 5.3/10	Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
Production Company	Amazon Studios

Synopsis

Needing a male heir to the throne, Prince Akeem returns to New York, to find his long-lost son and bring him back to Zamunda.

Coming to America 2, styled as Coming 2 America, is a sequel to the 1988 hit Coming to America. Everyone loved Coming to America, but while its sequel probably lost some of its originality, it made up for it in maintaining its family culture. The movie on the list with the most superstars, it featured popular comedians like Arsenio Hall, Leslie Morgan, Luenell, Trevor Noah, and Tracy Morgan. It also featured Rick Ross, James Earl Jones, Kiki Layne, Shari Headley, and Michael Blackson.

Popular soundtracks in the movie also featured John Legend, Big Sean, Teyana Taylor, Salt-N-Pepa, as well as Nigeria's Davido, Burna Boy, and Tiwa Savage. 

Amazon Movies, who bought the rights to air the movie from Paramount Pictures, haven't released box office figures yet, but it has generally been recognised as a successful movie, and has done more than enough to make it to second place on the list.

1. Squid Game

Squid Game
Release date	17/09/2021 (Global)
Main cast	HoYeon Jung, Lee Jung-jae, Gong Yoo, Wi Ha-joon
Budget	$21.4 million
Box office	Undisclosed (Impact value rumoured at $900 million)
Rating	IMDb: 8/10	Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Production Company	Netflix Studios

Synopsis

The series revolves around Seong Gi-hun, a divorced and indebted chauffeur, who is invited to play a series of children's games for a chance earning a large cash prize. When he accepts the offer, he is taken to an unknown location where he finds himself among 455 other players who are also deeply in debt.

17 awards and counting! It was almost inevitable that the Squid Game series was going to top this chart. The figures speak for themselves: 1.65 billion watching hours in its first four weeks, top viewed program in 94 countries, most-watched series on Netflix. Need I say more? I wouldn't. Rather unusually, I haven't seen the series yet, but I will someday. Netflix killed it perfectly with Squid Game, and with a second season set for 2024, over 200 million people can't wait for 2024 to come.

So, that's it from Google, we're glad you read this. If you saw all these movies, you're a movie person, no doubt! Do you feel there are other movies that should be here but are excluded? Tell us.

NOTE: Top trends do not directly mean most searched. The values are a function of their improvement from trending highs for the previous year. This means a breakout feature in any category has a higher chance of making the list than a popular feature that didn’t make it’s trend values for the previous year.

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