Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s mysterious Elizabeth Holmes documentary “You Can See Everything” exceeded expectations in its opening weekend with $15 million from just 855 screens — as the biggest debut for a doc in over 20 years since Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.
Coming in at No. 2 — behind the video game adaptation “Street Fighter” — before it’s even released nationally, the Holmes doc was also the biggest limited release (under 1,000 screens) of any kind since “Borat” in 2006.
A studio source tells us the film had 2,000 sold out showings, and an overall 50% occupancy nationwide. Movies like “The Odyssey” and “Backrooms” had around 30%, though that figure was across far more screens. Nearly three-quarters of edgy doc’s audience (70%) was under the age of 35.
A24, which was already riding high this year on “Backrooms,” “The Invite,” “The Drama” and “Primetime,” now figures to have a top Oscar contender. The movie is currently the highest-rated film ever on Letterboxd (4.8) and has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes plus a 98 on Metacritic.
The film’s main competition in the documentary race, Alex Gibney’s four-hour Elon Musk film, has so far struggled with a far more limited release under Bleeker Street — it expanded to 472 screens this weekend, earning $290,000 for a total of $394,912.
As the Holmes doc heads for a national release — with 90% of audiences so far saying they would recommend — “You Can See Everything” could even threaten Moore’s Iraq War takedown as the top-grossing doc ever.