{"id":660436,"date":"2026-05-23T12:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/660436\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T12:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:41:09","slug":"netflix-nears-deal-for-la-bola-negra-after-cannes-bidding-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/660436\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Nears Deal for ‘La Bola Negra’ After Cannes Bidding War"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFollowing its buzzy Cannes premiere, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo\u2019s \u201cLa Bola Negra<\/a>\u201d (\u201cThe Black Ball\u201d) is selling to Netflix in deal believed to be in the $5 million-range. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe ambitious film, which marked the Cannes competition debut for the filmmaking duo known collectively as Los Javis, earned a vibrant 16-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Thursday night. On Friday, multiple distributors, including Neon, A24 and Mubi circled the movie for the U.S. rights. Goodfellas is negotiating the international deal on behalf of the filmmakers. Because a pact has not been finalized, it is possible that a sale to Netflix could fall apart. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe sale marks the second major bidding war of this year\u2019s festival following Jordan Firstman\u2019s \u201cClub Kid,\u201d which ultimately landed at A24 in a $17 million acquisition. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Black Ball\u201d \u2014 a queer epic spanning 85 years of Spanish history and inspired by an unfinished fragment by Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca \u2014 is in contention for both the Palme d\u2019Or and the Queer Palm. Ambrossi and Calvo co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Alberto Conejero.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe story traces the interconnected lives of three gay men across three eras \u2014 1932, 1937, and 2017 \u2014 braiding together stories of desire, loss, and what one generation bequeaths to the next. The film\u2019s title alludes to a mode of social rejection: a black ball cast into a voting urn to deny a young gay man entry into a Granada club. The film stars Spanish singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente in his screen debut, alongside Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos Gonz\u00e1lez, Milo Quifes and Lola Due\u00f1as, with Glenn Close in a supporting role and Pen\u00e9lope Cruz contributing an extended cameo. Variety\u2019s Guy Lodge <\/a>described the film a having \u201ca florid formal approach and heart-on-sleeve emotionalism that will win it fans at home and abroad, both in and outside of the LGBT arthouse market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Black Ball\u201d is co-produced by Movistar Plus+, Los Javis\u2019 Suma Content Films, Pedro and Agust\u00edn Almod\u00f3var\u2019s El Deseo and Le Pacte. <\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix has a track record with major Spanish-language awards contenders, notably Jacques Audiard\u2019s \u201cEmilia Perez\u201d which racked up 13 Oscar nominations including best picture, making it the most nominated non-English language film ever. The movie went on to win two Oscars \u2014 best supporting actress for Zoe Saldana and best original song for \u201cEl Mal.\u201d Netflix had also handled \u201cRoma,\u201d Alfonso Cuaron\u2019s black-and-white drama set in 1970s Mexico City, which ultimately landed 10 nomination and won three Oscars, best foreign-language film, best director and best cinematography.<\/p>\n

\n\tBrent Lang contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following its buzzy Cannes premiere, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo\u2019s \u201cLa Bola Negra\u201d (\u201cThe Black Ball\u201d) is selling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[32176,88,283178,206],"class_list":["post-660436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-cannes-film-festival","tag-entertainment","tag-la-bola-negra","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}