Snow Community arrived on Netflix last Thursday, January 4, bringing with it Juan Antonio Bayona’s drama inspired by a Andean tragedy. Selected by the Academy to represent Spain at the 2024 Oscars, the film marks two notable milestones: it stands as the most expensive production in Spanish cinema with a 60 million euro budget, and it was the first project financed by Netflix in Spain. Its theatrical release preceded its Netflix debut, a sequence of events that sparked intense discussion about how streaming platforms report, or sometimes withhold, audience data.
Snow Community hit commercial screens three weeks earlier, on December 15, before becoming available to subscribers. This staggered release has fed a broader policy debate about opacity in platform data reporting. Netflix has long been criticized for sharing audience figures only selectively, and for not disclosing viewership numbers at all as a rule, especially when a movie enters theaters and later streams on its service. The practice of keeping box office data elusive has led to speculation about the actual performance of titles released through streaming-first or streaming-aligned strategies.
In Spain, the data gap is particularly apparent. Netflix reportedly instructs theaters not to forward box office numbers to media outlets or to Comscore, the industry’s main audience-measurement company. Executives and cinema owners describe a policy that limits external visibility into a title’s performance, a move that contrasts with the usually open flow of box office data. This creates a situation where the only information about Snow Community’s reach comes from a provisional tally and sporadic reports, with formal numbers delayed or withheld altogether.
Spain requires theaters to submit ticket sales data to the Ministry of Culture, yet, in this case, the process was atypical. If not for legal obligations, observers might never know whether the film, despite its record-breaking budget in the country, would be deemed a success. The first audience data for Snow Community appeared on the ICAA catalog on January 4, three weeks after the premiere, a delay many linked to Netflix’s reporting stance and the timing of the Netflix release itself.
Analysts note that the timing of data uploads can influence perceived success. Industry observer Pau Brunet suggested that the numbers often appear in the catalog on Thursdays, but Snow Community’s figures surfaced a week later than expected, aligning with its Netflix debut rather than its theatrical bow. Brunet also highlighted the unusual absence of a transparent, timely box office snapshot, a pattern contrasted with other titles’ typical data flow.
Eight Moroccan Surnames drew more attention
Official figures reported Snow Community grossing 255,707 euros from a limited theatrical run that attracted 38,289 admissions. While the catalog does not specify exact dates for these numbers, Brunet estimated they likely reflect the initial two days in theaters, December 15 and 16. Brunet had warned about the film’s transparency prior to its release, using his platform to urge clarity about the reporting practices surrounding major releases.
He recalled being told by the ICAA that official figures would eventually be released, only to be met with surprise when they did not appear as expected. Estimates circulated that Snow Community could have accrued around 1.6 million euros in the first three weeks, a figure awaiting formal verification from ICAA when published. By contrast, other recent Spanish titles provide richer, publicly accessible data for comparison, underscoring how Snow Community’s reporting deviates from the norm.
When compared to Eight Moroccan Surnames, which opened on December 1 and drew nearly 1.7 million euros in its first weekend from more theaters, Snow Community’s exposure appears more modest on a per-theater basis. Within the same frame, Daddy There’s Only One, a Santiago Segura film, posted a strong debut with a 2.4 million euro start. The contrast between these figures highlights how budget size and marketing effort interact with box office reception in Spain’s current landscape.
Despite the high price tag attached to Bayona’s production, Snow Community seems to have captured a relatively modest share of the weekend earnings, in part due to the film’s limited theater count. Reported figures indicate a lower per-room return in its first weekend compared with some high-profile comedies, though the broader performance across venues remains to be fully assessed as more data becomes available. The total reported by ICAA shows only a partial picture, given the constrained theater availability during its initial run.
Eight Moroccan Surnames, for example, posted a higher per-venue return than Snow Community at the outset, despite a smaller budget. The larger budget for Bayona’s film did not translate to an outsized per-room revenue in the early days, a dynamic that raises questions about the commercial impact of a streaming-first or hybrid release strategy on a theatrical market that frequently rewards early, broad exposure.
All of this information aligns with ICAA’s ongoing publication of weekly audience, revenue, and theater data. The catalog lists the 25 most-watched films in Spain and all cinema titles, though it relies on Comscore for data rather than the theater chains’ own reporting in some cases. The arrangement between cinemas, distributors, and networks can shape what data is ultimately disclosed, and journalists have underscored Netflix’s reluctance to comment on these practices or to provide a detailed box office breakdown.
The discussion surrounding Snow Community also touches on the broader philosophy of Netflix’s release strategy. Industry voices argue that the platform’s emphasis on streaming premieres may reduce the incentive to push blockbuster-level theatrical campaigns. Some observers suggest that Netflix’s goal is to generate cultural impact and audience engagement rather than chase traditional box office metrics. In this view, a large theatrical event serves to stimulate conversation and recognition, while the streaming window completes the film’s reach. Whether such strategies align with national cinema economics remains a live topic of debate.
Cinema owners, including those in Madrid, note that if a title is aired on Netflix, they may face contractual constraints that limit the sharing of performance figures externally. The balance between distributor agreements and venue reporting continues to shape how audiences and industry stakeholders understand a film’s success. While Netflix has not commented publicly, the industry consensus emphasizes the need for clear, timely box office data as a measure of performance and a predictor of future investment in productions of similar scale.
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