Elizabeth Holmes documentary 'You Can See Everything' breaks records with $15M opening

The nearly three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything," directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, made an extraordinary $15 million from only 855 screens over its opening weekend, with over 2,000 sellout showings according to A24. It achieved the biggest opening for a film playing on under 1,000 screens since "Borat" opened to $26.5 million in 2006, and the biggest non-music documentary opening in two decades since "Fahrenheit 9/11" made nearly $24 million from 868 theaters.

The film drew a largely younger audience, with over 70 per cent of opening-weekend crowds under 35. It holds a 99 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and scored 99 on Metacritic, along with an unprecedented 91 per cent "definite recommend" from audiences according to PostTrak exit polls.

Filmed in secret over three years, Fielder spent over a month with the disgraced Theranos founder and her family, including two young children and partner Billy Evans, in her final days before reporting to federal prison. The film reportedly cost under $7 million to make and less than $10 million to market.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, told media that while the premise might seem unlikely on paper — a three-hour documentary — Fielder's social media following and Holmes's compelling true-crime story made it irresistible. "He is a huge draw, and he has a huge following on social media, and then Elizabeth Holmes is just a character that you couldn't even make up. It's stranger than fiction, and that's really compelling."

The documentary's success eclipsed Paramount's "Street Fighter," which took the top spot with $31 million from 3,575 North American theaters and $51 million globally, as well as "Whalefall," a $60 million survival thriller that underperformed with $8 million domestically despite better reviews.