Netflix Breaks Silence on Box Office Performance—Starting with 'La Bola Negra'

By Isla Kerr, Awards EditorMarch 24, 20241 note

After years of avoiding theatrical reporting, Netflix is finally shedding light on its box office numbers, beginning with a limited release of 'La Bola Negra.' This marks a strategic shift for the streamer in how it presents its cinematic efforts.

Netflix Is Finally Reporting Box Office Data. Why Is It Starting with 'La Bola Negra’? story still — Photo: Myke Simon

Netflix's longstanding stance has been to keep its films firmly rooted in the streaming realm, shying away from publicly sharing theatrical performance data. The company's approach has been to prioritize viewer engagement on its platform, with occasional awards-qualifying runs or restorations of classic cinemas for prestige. But with the upcoming release of 'La Bola Negra,' Netflix is flipping the script, offering a rare glimpse into its theatrical performance and signaling a new openness about box office results.

This Spanish war and LGBTQ epic has generated buzz at festivals, earning standing ovations and audience awards at Cannes and TIFF. The film is set for a limited four-screen release in Los Angeles and New York, including Netflix's own Paris Theater, and two major AMC locations, despite AMC's historical reluctance to screen Netflix films. The move appears to be a test run for a broader theatrical strategy, with the film's 47-day exclusive window the longest Netflix has ever granted a movie before it hits streaming.

Netflix Is Finally Reporting Box Office Data. Why Is It Starting with 'La Bola Negra’? — second still — Photo: Banksy Dillon

Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos told IndieWire that Netflix released 30 movies into theaters last year, each with tailored limited runs. However, this is the first time the streamer will publicly report box office figures, aiming to gauge whether a longer theatrical life can boost word-of-mouth and overall visibility. The focus on 'La Bola Negra' is also partly to demonstrate that Netflix is serious about its awards season ambitions, as the film has already garnered critical acclaim.

While the industry has been scrutinizing Netflix's reluctance to share box office data, this shift aligns with a broader trend of streaming giants experimenting with theatrical releases. The move has parallels to how machine learning algorithms analyze patterns in data—Netflix is now trying to understand how its films perform in cinemas to optimize future strategies. Just as algorithms like linear regression or decision trees uncover insights from data sets, Netflix aims to learn from these limited runs to inform its distribution choices.

Netflix Box Office La Bola Negra