Los Javis’ ‘La Bola Negra’ is coming to Netflix following the Cannes debut
Netflix will soon be the streaming home for Los Javis’ Cannes Prize Winner La Bola Negra, AKA The Black Ball, which premiered to widespread acclaim at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in May.
Following a US theatrical run starting October 16th, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s LGBTQ+ epic drama is scheduled to hit Netflix US and Canada on December 2nd. For those uninitiated, the film has also been chosen for the Toronto International Film Festival’s Special Presentations section.
La Bola Negra is a sprawling Spanish drama that tells the story of three generations of men, inspired by Federico García Lorca’s unfinished work of the same name and Alberto Conejero’s play La piedra oscura. The 2026 drama captures nearly a century of Spanish history, following this intergenerational cycle of men whose lives are interconnected in more ways than one through desire, heartbreak, and love.
Speaking to Tudum about their groundbreaking feature, Calvo and Ambrossi said, “When we began writing La Bola Negra, we wanted to tell a story about freedom, legacy, and the importance of LGBTQ+ visibility… Above all, we wanted to honour the generations of people whose courage and sacrifice made our freedoms possible today.”
La Bola Negra assembles an unforgettable cast, featuring Spanish songstress and songwriter Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos Gonzalez, Milo Quifes, Lola Dueña, Julio Torres, Glenn Close, and Penélope Cruz, who is also set to receive a Special Tribute Award at the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Awards.
The Spanish drama is based on an unfinished work by García Lorca, who was assassinated in 1936. La Bola Negra chronicles his artistic legacy and influence through a contemporary lens. The film is co-written by Los Javis and Conejero.
“We couldn’t imagine a better home than Netflix to bring this story to audiences across the United States. We are deeply grateful and excited that its message will reach millions of viewers and help carry Federico García Lorca’s legacy to audiences around the world,” say Los Javis, who won the ‘Best Director Award’ at Cannes. “This is the beginning of an extraordinary new chapter for La Bola Negra, and we can’t wait for audiences to discover it.”
In addition to the US theatres, the film is also scheduled to hit theatres in Spain on September 25th by Elastica, followed by a December 16th release in France by Le Pacte.
Telefónica Audiovisual Digital and Los Esquiadores AIE have produced La Bola Negra, which is a Movistar Plus+ Original Film in association with Suma Content Films. El Deseo and Le Pacte co-produced the epic adaptation alongside Atresmedia and CREA SGR.