Cannes Palme d’Or front runner La Bola Negra looks set to be acquired for the U.S. by Netflix in a record-breaking deal for the platform for a non-English-title in the $4-5 million-range.
We hear the deal being brokered by Goodfellas comes a multi-week theatrical obligation attached and plans for an awards campaign, with the title being seen in the vein of crossover breakout Emilia Pérez.
As announced by Deadline, Elastica will launch the film in Spain in October, while Le Pacte, which is also co-producing the film, is handling France.
La Bola Negra is the first feature from Calvo and Ambrossi since 2017’s Holy Camp! The duo’s last project was the Movistar Plus+ series La Mesías (2023), which premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival and was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
La Bola Negra, starring Penélope Cruz, debuted Thursday evening at the Cannes Film Festival to a rapturous 20-minute ovation and some sparkling responses. Since then a handful of domestic buyers have been chasing the project, with Neon, A24 and Mubi also in the race for the U.S. rights.
Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi direct the Spanish-language film about three men in three different periods — 1932, 1937 and 2017 — connected by the last works of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.
The film’s official synopsis reads: “La bola negra tells the interconnected stories of three men in three different eras. Three lives intimately linked by sexuality and desire, pain and inheritance, and one of the last unfinished works by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.” Deadline revealed a first clip for the movie today.
Cast includes Spanish musician Guitarricadelafuente alongside Miguel Bernardeau, Cruz and Glenn Close. Calvo and Ambrossi also collaborated on the screenplay with Alberto Conejero.
The film’s 20-minute applause comes very near the Cannes record for an ovation in a premiere, set by another Spanish film, Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which clocked a 22-minute ovation in 2006.
The project is a Movistar Plus+ and Suma Content Films production in co-production with Pedro Almodóvar’s El Deseo and Le Pacte. Suma Content Films is Ambrossi and Calvo’s production company. The film was shot for 12 weeks in different locations across Spain, including Castile, León, Cantabria, Andalusia, and Madrid.
The film was shot on 35mm by director of photography Gris Jordana. Other below-the-line credits on the project include Roger Bellés as art director, Ana López Cobos as costume designer, Eva Leira and Yolanda Serrano as casting directors, Rodrigo Madrigal as sound engineer, Pablo Morillas as hairstylist, Mariló Osuna for make-up, and Belén Martí Lluch as movement director. Alberto Gutiérrez edited the film.
