Key Points
- A second-weekend increase is rare, and Halloween weekend will determine how high the film climbs.
The latest:
A documentary about Elizabeth Holmes pulled in $19.5 million in its second weekend, a 23% increase over its $15.8 million debut and a trajectory almost unheard of in theatrical releases. “You Can See Everything,” directed by Lance Oppenheim with co-director and star Nathan Fielder, expanded to 2,655 locations in the run-up to Halloween weekend, according to TheWrap.
Details:
- The numbers: The film earned $15.8 million on opening weekend and $19.5 million in its second, a 23% climb at a point in a release when grosses typically fall. TheWrap reported the opening was the largest for a documentary since Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.
- The expansion: Distributor A24 widened the release to 2,655 locations in weekend two, a screen count far above the usual documentary footprint. The studio has not disclosed how far it intends to expand the film in the weeks ahead.
- The film: Running three hours, the documentary centers on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is currently incarcerated, and her partner Billy Evans. The couple invited the filmmakers into their lives, TheWrap reported, hoping to present a side of Holmes they believe her fraud trial coverage never showed.
- The directors: Lance Oppenheim directed in secret alongside co-director and star Nathan Fielder. The secrecy of the production was only disclosed after the film reached theaters, and the length of the shoot has not been made public.
- A24’s fall: The indie studio is running two Oppenheim titles in close succession. “Primetime,” a surrealist biopic built around “To Catch a Predator,” opened roughly a month earlier and has taken $45 million at the U.S. box office on strong reviews, per TheWrap.
- The $100 million question: TheWrap’s analysis frames the upcoming Halloween weekend as the decisive test of whether the documentary can cross $100 million domestically. No studio projection for the holiday frame has been released.
- Why it’s unusual: Documentaries rarely sustain wide commercial runs, and a second-weekend increase is a marker reserved for titles driven by word of mouth rather than opening-weekend marketing spend.
- The subject’s return: The release has pushed Holmes, convicted in a high-profile fraud case, back into the news cycle alongside Evans, more than three years after her trial dominated coverage of Silicon Valley.
Background:
Elizabeth Holmes founded blood-testing startup Theranos, once valued in the billions, and was convicted of fraud after the company’s technology claims collapsed. She is serving a prison sentence. “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the 2004 benchmark the new film surpassed on opening weekend, remains the highest-grossing documentary in U.S. box office history.
Between the lines:
The 23% second-weekend rise, paired with the jump to 2,655 locations, suggests demand ran ahead of A24’s initial release plan rather than being manufactured by it. TheWrap’s analysis treats Halloween weekend as the hinge: a holiday frame typically pulls audiences toward horror titles, which makes it the sharpest available test of whether interest in the Holmes film is broad enough to sustain a $100 million run.
What’s next
Halloween weekend grosses are the next real signal, along with whether A24 widens the location count again. Also worth watching: whether the film holds against holiday competition and how close it lands to the $100 million mark.
