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How ‘You Can See Everything’ Became a Surprise Box Office Hit (and Likely One of the Biggest Docs of All Time)
A24’s documentary about Elizabeth Holmes has become a surprise box office hit, taking $19.5 million in its second weekend, up 28% from its opening. Its strong word of mouth and repeat viewings have made it a notable cinema draw, with the potential to become one of the biggest non-musical documentaries ever.
The film has earned $45.1 million in North America so far, against a reported $7 million budget. A24 began with a moderate release of 855 theatres, then expanded to more than 2,600; the film’s surprise premiere at Telluride and its distinctive approach to Holmes’s story helped build interest. It would need strong overseas earnings to reach the top five non-musical documentaries, led by *Fahrenheit 9/11* at $222 million worldwide.
In short
- The documentary took $19.5 million in its second weekend.
- North American takings have reached $45.1 million.
- A modest cinema launch and strong word of mouth fuelled its success.
Explained simply
Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos, a blood-testing company once valued at billions of dollars. The company promised to run many tests from a small amount of blood, but its technology did not work as claimed; Holmes was later convicted of fraud.
The documentary follows Holmes’s story and is distributed by A24, an independent film company. Documentaries are usually less reliable cinema draws than fiction films, so a strong audience can make a modestly budgeted release commercially notable.
Box office rankings compare ticket sales, often separating documentaries about music from other subjects. The best-known non-musical documentary releases include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, which earned far more worldwide than the current North American total reported for the Holmes film.