“La Bola Negra” is ready for its moment.
The historical epic, which spans three different time periods over nearly a century of Spanish history, was the toast of Cannes. It earned the filmmaking team of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi a Best Director Award and sparked a bidding war that Netflix eventually won. And now, ahead of its theatrical release on Oct. 16, Netflix has dropped a brand-new teaser trailer. Watch it below.
Described as a “bold tapestry” that “tells the story of three generations of men whose lives are intimately connected through desire, pain, and love,” “La Bola Negra” stars Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Lola Dueñas, Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Julio Torres and Yenesi.
When the film premiered at Cannes earlier this year it was rapturously received. Our own review, which is quoted throughout the teaser trailer, said “It’s rife with ingenious and technical marvels and sequences that rank among cinema’s best while also telling a very classical story about honoring those who’ve come before us, making space for the stories of those we may never meet, and acting as a celebration of those who never gave up on their love even when it was punishable by death.”
Netflix is taking the unprecedented move of giving the feature a wide theatrical berth, with it arriving in theaters on Oct. 16 and not arriving on the platform until Dec. 2. Compare this to “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” David Fincher’s upcoming “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” follow-up, which sees Brad Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role as stuntman Cliff Booth. That will only get a two-week Imax-exclusive run starting on Thanksgiving, before it debuts on Netflix at Christmas. Other big Netflix titles this fall, like Brad Bird’s hugely anticipated “Ray Gunn,” will only get the cursory awards-qualifying run.
If you want to be the first to get your tickets to “La Bola Negra,” executive produced by the legendary Pedro Almodóvar, you’ve got to head to the theater.
“La Bola Negra” hits theaters on Oct. 16 and arrives on Netflix on Dec. 2.
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