La Bola Negra Expands to 465 US and Canadian Theatres This Weekend
Netflix's Spanish-language film La Bola Negra opens in 465 cinemas across the United States and Canada this weekend, its widest run so far. The Hollywood Reporter reported the expansion on 5 November. Netflix had earlier projected the film would play in between 200 and 300 locations.
The film opened on 16 October and is heading into its fourth weekend in cinemas. Last weekend it took $418,000 from 38 theatres in North America, a figure that counts the United States and Canada together. Its domestic total has now passed $1.3 million, according to the same report.
The climb started small. In its debut weekend, the film earned $277,500 from four theatres, which works out to a per-screen average of $69,375. That is the average take for each cinema showing it, and it was the second-highest ever for a non-English-language release, behind only Parasite in 2019. Netflix reported box office figures for the first time with this title, Variety reported in October.
Audiences have been young, too. Half of the US audience in the debut weekend was under 35, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is also doing well at home. Deadline reported on 3 November that it has grossed $43 million worldwide, making it Spain's top-grossing local film of 2026. It has reached No. 3 on Spain's all-time chart for a Spanish film and sits among the top 10 highest-grossing titles ever released there. Elastica Films distributes it in Spain.
La Bola Negra is directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who work together as Los Javis. Its stars include Guitarricadelafuente and Miguel Bernardeau. Penélope Cruz plays Nené, a cabaret singer, and the cast also includes Glenn Close, Carlos Gonzalez, Milo Quifes and Lola Dueñas. The story explores queer identity across three timelines.
The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year, where its two directors shared the best director prize. It later won the audience award at the London Film Festival, the people's choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the audience award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Spain has chosen it as its entry for the best international feature Oscar. Netflix also lists it among its Oscar-season contenders.
Rotten Tomatoes shows an 86 percent critics score and a 97 percent audience rating. Madonna promoted the film on Instagram, writing "Go and see this film!!!" and calling it "A transformational experience."
The release has also been staggered city by city. Netflix says the film reached the San Francisco and Bay Area theatres on 23 October and San Diego on 30 October. Netflix will stream it from 2 December, after a 47-day theatrical window, which The Hollywood Reporter describes as the longest Netflix has offered yet. A theatrical window is the gap between a film's cinema run and its arrival on a streaming service.
For cinemas, this weekend's jump from 38 to 465 locations is the clearest sign yet of how far the film has travelled from its four-screen start. The next figures for that expansion will come with the weekend studio estimates.
