According to estimates on Sunday, the popular documentaries "_You Can See Everything_" directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, which focus on Elizabeth Holmes, grossed an estimated $15 million at the North American box office over the first weekend.
A24 This film was released in only 855 theaters in the United States and Canada, with an average box office of about $17,544 per theater, which has placed it among the rare blockbuster documentaries in theaters.
This also represents the second-highest opening box office score in the history of documentaries, only behind Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11." The latter was released on 868 screens in 2004 and grossed $23.9 million on its first weekend.
A24 indicates that during the weekend, there were over 2,000 screenings with all tickets sold out, and the box office performance of this film was approximately twice the $7 to $8 million previously predicted for Variety.
This film ranked second on the weekend box office chart, behind “Street Fighter” produced by Paramount and Legendary, which grossed 31 million dollars. However, “Street Fighter” was released in a large-scale rollout across 3,575 theaters, with an average box office of only 8,671 dollars per theater, less than half of that of “You Can See Everything”.
The box office of this documentary also surpassed that of two other newly released films this weekend: " Whalefall " by 20th Century Fox, which grossed 8 million dollars, while " Sense and Sensibility " by Focus Features grossed 7.25 million dollars, nearly twice that of the former and more than double that of the latter as well.
The box office performance is even close to that of “Digger” starring Tom Cruise.
The premiere performance of this documentary was almost twice that of the black comedy "The Big Lebowski," produced by Warner Bros., starring Tom Cruise, and directed by Alejandro G Iñá rritu. The film grossed 8 million dollars at the box office earlier this month.
It is reported that the initial production budget approved for “Digger” was 125 million US dollars, but the production costs later rose to between 160 and 180 million US dollars. “Variety” estimates that this film may incur a loss of about 245 million US dollars during its theatrical run. By the third weekend, the box office for “Digger” was only 920,000 US dollars, ranking 15th, 13 places behind “You Can See Everything”.
At the weekend box office, “You Can See Everything” also surpassed several other feature films such as “Other Mommy”, “Verity”, “Resident Evil”, “Heart”, “of”, “the”, “Beast”, “Forgotten Island”, “The Social Reckoning”, as well as “A24’s own ‘Primetime’”.
In contrast, the total budget for the production and marketing of this documentary is reported to be less than 20 million US dollars.
How does it compare to other documentaries?
The opening-week box office of “You Can See Everything” exceeded that of Amazon MGM’s “Melania” by more than twice. The latter was released in 1,778 theaters in late January this year, with a first-weekend box office of about 7 million dollars. The company spent 40 million dollars on the film’s rights and approximately 35 million dollars on marketing.
In the past, there have been other documentaries that achieved box office success. "Fahrenheit 9/11" ultimately grossed 119.2 million dollars in North America and still holds the record for the highest-grossing documentary to date. "March of the Penguins" was initially shown on only 4 screens in 2005, but later became a nationwide sensation, grossing 77.4 million dollars in North America; "Michael Jackson's This Is It" grossed 72 million dollars in North America in 2009, according to Box Office Mojo data.
But such documentaries are, after all, in the minority. Documentaries rarely get released in theaters; even when they do, they are usually shown for a limited time and get lost in the competition of box office for feature films. This makes “You Can See Everything” an exception: it is not only a commercial success for documentaries but also stands out in attracting public attention.
From a secret screening in Telluride to heated discussions at the Oscars
Since the film's unexpected premiere at the Tullowayde Film Festival on September 6th, film critics have been praising its boldness and uniqueness. However, not everyone believes that it truly touches upon the real stories of Theranos.
An attractive marketing campaign highlighted the unusual relationship between Holmes and Fielder: the former is the founder of Theranos and is serving a federal prison sentence of over 11 years for fraud; the latter is a comedian known for blurring the lines between performance and reality. Rumors about surprises and spoilers surrounding the film – common in big-budget movies but not typical for documentaries – spread rapidly before its release.
Currently, this film has a rating of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes; according to Boxoffice Pro, its average score of 4.8 on Letterboxd is also the highest ever recorded on that platform. Award observers are now discussing whether it could become the first documentary to receive a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars.
All of these make “You Can See Everything” one of the most worthwhile movies to watch this autumn – and it might even be the most worthwhile one of all. Few non-fiction works are as popular, as engaging, and as appealing at the box office as this one.
