The story of Elizabeth Holmes refuses to stop being told — and audiences are still lining up to hear it. A24’s documentary You Can See Everything, co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, earned an estimated $15 million in its opening weekend from just 855 theaters, a near-record debut for a documentary that nearly doubled industry projections.
Playing on fewer than 1,000 screens, the nearly three-hour film averaged roughly $17,544 per theater — the strongest per-screen figure of the weekend by a wide margin — and A24 reports more than 2,000 sold-out screenings, with moviegoers under 35 making up over 70% of the audience.
The Weekend Numbers
Domestically, the film opened at No. 2 behind Paramount’s Street Fighter, which topped the chart with $31 million from 3,575 theaters. The full top five, per weekend estimates:
| Rank | Film | Weekend Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Street Fighter | $31.0M |
| 2 | You Can See Everything | $15.0M |
| 3 | Other Mommy | $8.4M |
| 4 | Whalefall | $8.0M |
| 5 | Sense and Sensibility | $7.3M |
Variety had projected the documentary to earn between $7 million and $8 million heading into the weekend. It nearly doubled that ceiling — on a fraction of the screens of its competitors.
A Record Nearly Two Decades in the Making
With its $15 million debut, You Can See Everything now holds the second-biggest opening ever for a non-music documentary in domestic history. The only documentary to open bigger was Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, which took $23.9 million in 2004.
The film also recorded the highest opening for a film playing on fewer than 1,000 screens since Borat in 2006 — and among non-fiction films, it stands as a modern record-holder. For context, A24’s documentary nearly matched the entire domestic run of this year’s other big documentary bet: the Melania Trump documentary Melania, directed by Brett Ratner, opened to $7.1 million and finished its run with $16 million domestic — a total You Can See Everything came within $1 million of in a single weekend. And it did so despite Melania playing in 1,778 theaters on a $40 million production budget plus a $35 million marketing spend.
The economics of A24’s film look strikingly different. Variety reports the production budget at roughly $7 million, with TheWrap reporting that production and marketing combined cost less than $10 million.
What Is You Can See Everything About?
The film begins when Holmes invites a film crew to document her life in the 34 days before she reports to federal prison. What started as a look at that narrow window became a project spanning three years — filmed entirely in secrecy, with no public knowledge of its existence until it was revealed at a secretive screening at the Telluride Film Festival last month.
Fielder, the deadpan comedian behind The Rehearsal, co-directed with Lance Oppenheim and spent about a month with Holmes and her family — including her partner Billy Evans — in the period before her incarceration. The story itself is one of the most-told tales of the decade: Holmes founded the blood-testing startup Theranos, attracted backing from some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names, and was ultimately sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for defrauding investors.
The film has been told in books, podcasts, TV shows, and other documentaries before. What sets this one apart, per early reviews, is the access — Holmes and her family, on camera, with Fielder himself in the room — and the resulting metatextual strangeness that follows.
What It Means — and What Comes Next
Critical and audience reception has been extraordinary. The film holds a 99% rating on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and PostTrak exit polls recorded a 91% “definite recommend” rate from viewers.
Two forces drove the number. The first is Fielder’s cult following, which turned the film’s secret production into a genuine event. The second is the audience itself: more than 70% of the opening-weekend crowd was under 35, a demographic that barely overlaps with the traditional documentary audience — and one that studios have struggled to get back into theaters.
Variety reports that the documentary will expand nationwide in the coming weeks. With a $15 million start on 855 screens, any meaningful expansion puts even bigger records in play.
FAQ
How much did You Can See Everything make in its opening weekend?
An estimated $15 million domestically from 855 theaters, the second-biggest documentary opening ever.
How does that compare to the Melania documentary?
Melania opened to $7.1 million and earned $16 million total domestic on a $40 million budget plus $35 million in marketing. You Can See Everything nearly matched that entire run in one weekend, from a film that cost less than $10 million including marketing.
Who directed You Can See Everything?
Nathan Fielder (creator of The Rehearsal) and Lance Oppenheim, who filmed in secrecy over three years.
When does You Can See Everything expand nationwide?
A24 has not announced a date, but Variety reports a nationwide expansion is planned for the coming weeks.
How long is You Can See Everything?
Nearly three hours.