Opening this weekend, Cannes’ award-winning La Bola Negra, Spain’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature inspired by an unfinished Federico García Lorca play, marks a milestone for Netflix.
A24 debuts the buzzy Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything, on 855 screens — about double the number as Musk, with Bleecker Street expanding that Alex Gibney doc to 472 locations after a limited opening last week on four screens, with showtimes clipped by a nearly four-hour run time including intermission.
The Holmes doc (almost three hours) is off to a strong start with $1.75 million in previews and great exits, as in a 92% definite recommend and 100% positive score.
Neon meanwhile launches David Greaves’ prize-winning documentary Once Upon A time In Harlem in two NYC theaters.
RELATED: Doc Talk Podcast: David And Liani Greaves On Their Oscar Contender ‘Once Upon A Time In Harlem’
La Bola Negra: Netflix is giving this festival favorite a 47-day theatrical window and the streamer’s first-ever Sunday box office gross report as it tees up a a string of films for a more traditional release: The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth by David Fincher hits Imax over Thanksgiving, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is getting a wide release in February with a 45-day theatrical window, Taika Waititi’s animated feature Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory is scheduled to hit theaters November 5, 2027 with a 47-day window. The Mosquito Bowl by Peter Berg, opening in limited release October 30, and Danny Boyle’s Rupert Murdoch biographical drama Ink on December 11, both will have approximate 30-day theatrical windows. All will report grosses.
The planned sequel to smash hit KPop Demon Hunters will also receive a broad theatrical release, said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently.
La Bola Negra follows three gay men whose lives interconnect across three different eras. In a decorated festival run, helmers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi shared Best Director at Cannes (see Deadline review). It nabbed the TIFF People’s Choice Award for Best Film, Audience Awards at San Sebastian and Sydney, and Best Narrative Feature at the Hamptons Film Festival. Stars musician Guitarricadelafuente in his acting debut, Milo Quifes and Carlos González. Glenn Close and Penélope Cruz make appearances.
Netflix operates the historic Paris Theater in NYC and owns the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. It has opened films theatrically, making a splash with some, like the Knives Out franchise, or Frankenstein, which lingered in theaters well beyond its streamer debut. Usually the footprint is limited, the window short and official box office intel zero.
La Bola Negra opened NewFest in New York on Thursday. Screenings with director Q&As in New York today, and Saturday in L.A. Netflix will add select cities over the next several weeks ahead of a moderate nationwide jump.
Netflix early this year lost its bid to buy Warner Bros., a move that ramped up industry speculation around the streamer’s theatrical plans. More recently, a shakeup this week saw 1,000 job cuts and the exit of content chief Bela Bajaria as the company looks to boost engagement and grow in an increasingly competitive landscape.
A24’s You Can See Everything by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim launches at 855+ theaters ahead of a wider, nationwide release next week for the unusual documentary that was a secret for years before blasting off at Telluride with a surprise screening, then heading to the New York Film Festival. It’s 100% Certified Fresh with Rotten Tomatoes critics. See Deadline review.
A24 financed this verité project four years ago in secret and it flows from the San Diego home of disgraced biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes in the 45-day period just before she entered the Bryan Federal Prison in Texas. Holmes granted the directors unfettered access to the house she shared with her partner and two young children, eventually inviting the filmmakers to live with them.
The Stanford dropout and founder of biotech startup Theranos was charged with fraud for lying about the technology and financial health of her company. It claimed to revolutionize blood-testing with a proprietary device that could run dozens of comprehensive medical tests from a single drop of blood obtained by a simple finger prick. She always insisted she had done nothing wrong, including in circular conversations with Fielder in the doc. She was convicted in a Northern California court in early 2022 after a highly public trial and reported to serve a 10-year sentence in May 2023.
A24 is approaching the film more as a kind of genre-bending cultural phenomenon than a traditional doc with runtime comps more similar to live event concert films like Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, and BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – Live. A recent documentary comp, Melania, did about $7 million at 1,700 theaters.
Alamo Drafthouse said You Can See Everything has racked up the highest presales for any A24 title and of any documentary in the circuit’s history by tickets sold. It’s currently Alamo’s No. 2 presales title behind only Avengers: Doomsday.
New, Limited
Neon opens David Greaves’ prize-winning documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem at two theaters in New York (Film Society of Lincoln Center and Film Forum), with an Los Angeles expansion October 23. The doc world premiered at Sundance and screened at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Telluride, Toronto and New York Film Festival, where it won the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. At 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (45 reviews), it has five nominations for the Critics Choice Documentary Awards including Best Documentary Feature.
The project was completed by David Greaves but conceived of and compiled by his father, the late William Greaves, who captured on film a 1972 cocktail party he hosted at Duke Ellington’s house with living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. For four hours, this extraordinary group, many of whom had not seen each other in 50 years, reminisced, critiqued, argued, laughed and drank while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape. The doc is shot on 16mm film and newly restored. In-person Q&A’s with David Greaves and producer Liani Greaves in NYC this weekend, and L.A. next weekend.
Dominik Moll’s French crime drama Case 137 from Film Movement opens at The Quad in NYC, adding Laemmle Glendale on October 30 before heading to San Francisco, D.C. and other markets. Written by Moll (The Night Of The 12tth) with Giles Marchand. Following the Yellow Vest protests of Paris in 2018, internal affairs officer Stéphanie Bertrand (Léa Drucker) must investigate the conduct of her fellow police officers during the demonstrations. Striving to remain objective, her position leaves her at stark odds with the rest of the force as she scrutinizes the near-fatal assault of a teenage protester from her hometown. Premiered at Cannes in 2025. Drucker won the Best Actress César Award for the role.
New, moderate/wide
Briarcliff Entertainment’s biographical comedy-drama Trust Me I’m a Doctor directed by Thane Economou and starring Kal Penn opens at 491 theaters. The film follows Dr. Sandeep Kapoor (Penn), whose life is turned upside down when he’s implicated in the death of a former patient, model and reality television star Anna Nicole Smith (Abbie Cornish). Set against the height of the early 2000s tabloid era, the film chronicles Kapoor’s fight to clear his name as paparazzi descend on his office, police raid his home, private journals are leaked, and every aspect of his personal life becomes public. He must navigate a high-stakes drug conspiracy trial while confronting the intersection of celebrity, justice, politics and personal redemption. Based on Kapoor’s 2017 book Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.: My Life Before, During and After Anna Nicole Smith.
Spider horror Crawlers from Roadside Attractions debuts on 1,037 screens. A catastrophic infestation of venomous spiders sends an apartment building into lockdown. Trapped inside by a police-mandated quarantine, building manager Serena (Matilda Lutz) and her residents battle to survive as the creatures multiply by the second. Directed by Angel Gómez Hernández, written by Jayson Rothwell.
Focus Features’ Sense and Sensibility, director Georgia Oakley’s fresh take on Jane Austen’s iconic novel, opens wide in 2,436 locations. The film reunites Focus and Working Title following their acclaimed collaborations on Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. (2020). Screenplay by Diana Reid based on the 1811 novel, the latest nod to the author whose social satire continues to allure readers and viewers over generations. Stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe and Frank Dillane, with George MacKay and Fiona Shaw. See Deadline review.
The lead-up included book club partners Vogue and Reese’s Book Club; slumber-party screenings; Alamo Q+A screenings; candlelight concerts; and brand partnerships with Estée Lauder, Paper Source, Coach, Butter London and Crate & Barrel.