(CNN) "Roma," Alfonso Cuarón's affectionate look at the Mexico City of his childhood, has 10 Academy Award nominations. It's been in theaters for three months. Most Hollywood observers consider it the favorite to win the best picture Oscar on Sunday.

And yet officially, "Roma" hasn't earned a penny.

That's because Netflix, its distributor, doesn't release box-office numbers. "Roma" may well end up as the most celebrated movie of 2018, and nobody outside of Netflix's offices will know how many people saw it.

"As far as I know it's a first," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore and a longtime Hollywood observer. "It's incredibly unusual."

Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film last spring and released it in a handful of theaters on November 21. By mid-December it was playing in dozens of countries and also streaming on Netflix -- an unorthodox distribution strategy for an awards contender.

Read More