Netflix reports historic first box office grosses with ‘La Bola Negra’

Netflix has reported box office grosses for the first time in its history, debuting the Spanish-language drama ‘La Bola Negra’ in a limited U.S. release. The film earned $277,500 across four theaters in Los Angeles and New York, resulting in a per-screen average of $69,375. This figure represents the highest per-screen average ever for a Spanish-language film and the second-highest for any non-English-language film, trailing only 2019’s ‘Parasite’.

Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (known as Los Javis), the film is a queer epic inspired by the unfinished work of Federico García Lorca. It has garnered significant critical acclaim, including shared Best Director honors at Cannes and the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film serves as Spain’s official entry for the Academy Awards.

Netflix plans to expand the film’s distribution to as many as 300 theaters nationwide in the coming weeks, maintaining a 45-to-47-day exclusive theatrical window before its streaming debut on December 2. This theatrical push comes amid a period of corporate restructuring at Netflix, which recently implemented a 6% workforce reduction.