Netflix will begin publicly disclosing box office grosses for its films, marking a departure from a policy of secrecy the streamer has maintained for nearly a decade of limited theatrical releases. The shift starts with “La Bola Negra,” a queer drama from directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi that Netflix acquired following its acclaimed premiere at Cannes. The film opens in theaters Oct. 16 before arriving on the streaming service Dec. 2, giving it a 47-day theatrical window, the longest Netflix has ever committed to for a single title.
Reporting will extend to several other upcoming releases receiving windows of at least 45 days, the standard now common across the industry. Those include David Fincher’s “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” starring Brad Pitt, which gets an Imax-exclusive run over Thanksgiving; Greta Gerwig’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” opening in February 2027; an animated “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” arriving later that year; and additional titles including “Mosquito Bowl” and Danny Boyle’s “Ink.”
For years, Netflix withheld figures even for films it gave meaningful theatrical runs, including Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion.” The company also declined to disclose grosses for “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” its most-watched film ever, despite industry estimates crediting the movie with roughly $18 million over two days last August and Netflix’s first-ever No. 1 finish on domestic box office charts. That silence, paired with the company’s reluctance to commit to standard exclusivity windows, fueled ongoing friction with theater chains and rival studios, particularly during disputes over “The Irishman’s” release.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has previously downplayed the value of theatrical exclusivity, once describing extended windows as outdated relative to the company’s on-demand model. Yet streaming originals made up 12 of the year’s 20 most-watched general-audience films worldwide, according to a Nielsen report cited industry-wide, up from seven the year before.
The company’s newfound willingness to publish grosses comes months after its failed bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and follows a meeting between Sarandos and theater executives at CinemaCon, part of a broader effort to rebuild ties with exhibitors who have long pushed the streamer toward conventional distribution norms.
