La Bola Negra, the sweeping Spanish-language epic that Netflix acquired out of the Cannes Film Festival for an awards season push, will be given a platform theatrical release in U.S. theaters starting on Oct. 16 and will subsequently begin streaming on Dec. 2, the company announced Tuesday.
That 47-day period of theatrical exclusivity before streaming will be the longest yet for any Netflix film, surpassing the 31-day period accorded to Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story in 2019. (A new record is expected to be established in 2027, with Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew set to be released in theaters on Feb. 12 and then begin streaming on April 2, a 49-day period.)
La Bola Negra, which recounts the story of three generations of queer men whose lives are connected through love and loss, was written (with Alberto Conejero), directed and produced by Los Javis, the Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. It became the subject of a competitive bidding war following its May 21 world premiere in Cannes, where Los Javis were awarded the fest’s best director prize for the film in a tie with Paweł Pawlikowski for Fatherland.
The film stars Spanish music sensation Guitarricadelafuente, in his acting debut, alongside Elite star Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Lola Duenas, Julio Torres and, in relatively small but memorable parts, two of Hollywood’s biggest names, Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close.
The film is set to have its Canadian premiere at September’s Toronto International Film Festival, where Cruz will be feted at the TIFF Tribute Awards on Sept. 13.