The Snow Societythe new movie J. Bayona, just arrived to Netflix. The film has been widely acclaimed by critics and is even nominated for several Oscars. However, with its premiere on the streaming platform, the controversy did not take long to arrive. And the film has only been in theaters for half a month. And, based on its first collection data, there are those who have already considered it a great failure.
According to the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), dependent on the Ministry of Culture, The Snow Society raised 255,707 euros in Spain during its premiere. This is a significantly low figure, it is true. Given the character of a great film with which it has been sold, there are those who expected a larger amount. But the explanation for these results is perfectly logical. And it all boils down to Netflix Distribution in cinemas does not interest him much as a business model.
The most obvious thing is that The Snow Society It has only been screened in 110 movie theaters. A very low number compared to the more than 300 rooms that the theaters usually have. blockbusters. This means that the box office per cinema has been an average of €2,324.6, a figure slightly lower, for example, than Aquaman 2 (€2,375), but higher than Christmas in your hands (€1,782), the new film by Santiago Segura. Furthermore, it is possible that in the following days this average collection per cinema will have increased thanks to good word of mouth and the Christmas holidays.
Fewer rooms, less public
The opacity of Netflix, which requires cinemas not to reveal their box office data, is the cause of the speculation surrounding the release of The Snow Society. The data already mentioned is what is known, and is because the law requires cinemas to give the Ministry of Culture information on ticket sales. But, apart from this, there is another key factor so that the collection is not higher. And there are large cinema chains like Helmet either Cinesatwo of the most important that operate in Spain, which they haven’t shown the film.
Thus, the total audience that has been able to reach The Snow Society It is much less than usual. There are several provincial capitals in Spain where it has not even been released. It is evident that the fewer theaters that show a film, the fewer viewers it will have. But if, in addition, the cinemas that attract the largest number of people each week are the first to not show it, the audience is drastically reduced. And finally, a third factor must be added to fully understand the box office results.
The premiere of The Snow Society on Netflix
Although it came out first in theaters, The Snow Society It has been announced with great fanfare as Netflix’s big bet in 2023. Its premiere on the platform for all its users would arrive only three weeks after it landed in theaters. With such a short exclusivity window for the big screen, although it is not a quantifiable fact, many have surely chosen to wait a few days to see it at home. In fact, Netflix is only interested in releasing projects like Bayonne in theaters because, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be eligible for awards like the Oscars.
The regulations for these awards specify that in order to be nominated you must first go through the movie theaters. Something that the platform complies with rigorously and without going beyond the mandatory minimum. So, tapes like The Irishof Martin Scorsese, were only released in fifty theaters throughout Spain and for only a few days. For all these reasons, it would not be coherent to compare The Snow Society with a normal theatrical release. Netflix movies play by different rules and cannot be met by traditional criteria of success or failure.
Success on Netflix?
One last fact that defends that The Snow Society It has not been a failure, it is its position on Netflix. The film premiered in its catalog on January 4 and has already reached the top of the most viewed. In the main European markets (Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany…) it has taken number 1 since the day of its release. The same has happened in the vast majority of Latin American countries, as it is a story that resonates strongly. And in the United States it ranks top 2.
So, The Snow Society It is being the most watched on Netflix worldwide in these first days of January. A clear success that will be confirmed at the end of the week, when it is revealed whether it has entered (as everything seems to indicate) in the top 10. These are the data that really matter on Netflix. The platform is hardly affected by whether the film is seen more or less in cinemas. The interesting thing for them is being able to drag their subscribers to their couches so they can hit the play. And in that game, the film Bayonne Yes, it aims much higher.