2027 Reform Package: What Stays Net from Your Salary?

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30 million euros, over 4 million viewers – "La bola negra" reaches this mark at the Spanish cinema box office this Monday. The film by Los Javis thus surpasses even the boldest forecasts made at the San Sebastián Festival, which had ranged between 22 and 25 million euros (conservative) and over 28 million euros (ambitious).

What was considered a sure success has become a sensation. "La bola negra" is now the highest-grossing Spanish film of the current cinema year – even though the two biggest hits of the season, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" (39 million euros) and "La odisea" (38 million euros), remain out of reach.

Fourth place in Spanish cinema history

In historical comparison, the film has already climbed to fourth place among the highest-grossing Spanish films of all time. Only three titles stand ahead of it:

• "Ocho apellidos vascos" – 55,380,420 euros and 9,397,758 viewers (2014)
• "Lo imposible" – 42,415,931 euros and 6,130,003 viewers (2012)
• "Ocho apellidos catalanes" – 35,481,520 euros and 5,693,198 viewers (2015)

The leap into this list is all the more remarkable because "La bola negra" is just entering its fourth theatrical week. From Monday to Thursday, Spain is running "La fiesta del cine," a promotion with discounted tickets – this will push viewer numbers even further, but less so overall revenue.

US premiere with a historic figure

Parallel to the Spanish success, international marketing is running at full speed. Last weekend, the film celebrated its premiere in four cinemas in Los Angeles and New York – the screenings were practically sold out and brought in 277,500 US dollars. This figure has a doubly historic character: For the first time ever, Netflix as an international distributor has disclosed cinema revenues for one of its own films. And at the same time, it is the second-highest revenue per screen for a non-English-language film ever – only Bong Joon-ho's Oscar winner "Parasite" performed better.

In the shadow of "Parasite" – and in the race for the Oscar

Precisely this comparison fires the imagination of the US industry. Specialty media such as Variety see "La bola negra" as the only film that could seriously compete with "La odisea" for the golden Oscar statuette in Hollywood. Of course, it is still a long way off – the path to an Oscar nomination is long. What is clear, however, is that there is currently no cinematic event in the USA where Los Javis and their team do not appear. Netflix is investing in an unprecedented promotional campaign for the film – with special screenings and events where, for example, Guitarricadelafuente sings on stage before the film begins.

What's coming next

After the limited US launch, it remains to be seen whether the film will hold its momentum as Netflix expands the release to additional states. The time window is ambitious: With 45 days between theatrical release and streaming availability, this is the longest cinema run in Netflix history. On December 2, the film will then be available on the platform. In Spain, the home video launch takes longer – there, the producer Movistar Plus+ takes over.