LOS ANGELES, September 13 — Netflix will start reporting box office grosses for a slate of upcoming releases, the first time the streamer has done so, Variety reported on Sept. 8. The bottom line: the company that built its business on skipping theaters is now measuring what its films do inside them. The disclosure arrives alongside Netflix’s longest theatrical rollout to date.
“La Bola Negra,” the Penélope Cruz-starring queer drama directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, will play 46 days in theaters beginning Oct. 16, 2026, before landing on the Netflix platform on Dec. 2, 2026. Netflix bought the film for $5 million at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026, where Ambrossi and Calvo won the jury prize for best director.
It screened at the Telluride Film Festival the weekend before the Variety report and was headed to the Toronto International Film Festival for another premiere.
2027 Goes Wider
Netflix’s plans for 2027 push further. Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” will get a wide release, including Imax screens, for almost 50 days. The company’s animated “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” will play wide for 47 days at Christmas.
For years Netflix has mounted splashy limited releases to hype awards contenders and appease filmmakers who still yearn for the magic of movie theaters. Sources told Variety the “La Bola Negra” plan is hitting differently, and numerous power players interviewed by the publication see the company inching closer to embracing the roughly 130-year tradition of theatrical exhibition.
The Question Inside the Industry
One high-level executive at a legacy film studio framed the question as what Netflix wants to be now, and, citing Netflix’s attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, said you get the sense that they can’t put some of that toothpaste back in the tube. The executive was referring to Netflix’s willingness to own and operate a theatrical distribution entity, as shown in its attempt to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO until David Ellison’s Paramount swooped in with a larger offer.
In a subsequent interview with Bloomberg, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos admitted he could see the company doing things that it hasn’t done. Investors will note what the first grosses actually show.
The figure that matters is not the opening weekend on a single art-house title but whether Netflix keeps publishing numbers once the 2027 wide releases arrive — and whether a company that spent a decade arguing theaters were optional starts treating them as part of the business.
