‘La Bola Negra’ Ups Planned Theater Count Heading Into Netflix Film’s Widest Weekend Yet (Exclusive)

Netflix‘s La Bola Negra is adding theaters for its widest frame to date. The acclaimed drama feature will expand to 465 domestic theaters this weekend after Netflix previously had projected that the film would hit between 200 and 300 locations, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s film stars Guitarricadelafuente and Miguel Bernardeau as it explores queer identity over three timelines. La Bola Negra grossed $418,000 last weekend from 38 North American theaters and has now surpassed $1.3 million domestically for the run that heads into its fourth frame. During its debut weekend, its $69,375 per-screen average from four theaters was the second-highest ever for a non-English language release, behind only 2019’s Parasite. For its debut frame, 50 percent of the U.S. audience was under age 35. This week, La Bola Negra hit No. 3 on Spain‘s all-time box office chart for a Spanish film. The feature, which counts Elastica Films as its distributor in Spain, is also among the top 10 highest-grossing titles ever in that country. Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Carlos González, Milo Quifes and Lola Dueñas round out the cast. La Bola Negra Carla Oset/Netflix La Bola Negra premiered earlier this year at Cannes, where Calvo and Ambrossi won best director. It recently took the audience award at the London Film Festival, joining such previous accolades as the TIFF people’s choice award and the San Sebastián International Film Festival audience award. It is expected to be a major Academy Award contender and was Spain’s entry for the best international feature Oscar. Madonna is among La Bola Negra’s famous fans, as the music superstar took to Instagram to encourage her followers to seek the movie out. “Go and see this film!!!” she captioned her post over the weekend. “A transformational experience.” La Bola Negra holds an 86 critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, along with a 97 percent audience rating. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Richard Lawson praised it as “vivid and transporting.” After opening in theaters Oct. 16, the film hits Netflix on Dec. 2, making its 47-day theatrical window the longest yet for the streaming service.