A24’s “You Can See Everything” has become one of the year’s biggest box office surprises, opening to a staggering $15.6 million in the U.S. and generating a frenzy of headlines, spoilers, memes and online chatter. But for audiences outside North America, catching Nathan Fielder’s three-hour documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes — now expected to be a major player in awards season — has become a frustrating waiting game.
Despite the film’s blockbuster debut — the second-biggest opening weekend ever for a documentary, behind “Fahrenheit 9/11” — A24 isn’t releasing it in the U.K. and Australia until Nov. 20, more than a month after its U.S. bow. Sony Pictures, which recently acquired the film for several international territories, including Germany, Latin America and South Korea, has yet to announce its release plans.
As one producer jokingly put it in a message to Variety: “You Can See Everything, unless you live outside N. America.”
The frustration was palpable at the BFI London Film Festival, where excited speculation was mounting that the documentary would be unveiled as the surprise screening on Oct. 16. With co-director Lance Oppenheim in town earlier that week (for his other film, “Primetime”) and a special BAFTA screening having taken place that afternoon, many festivalgoers were convinced “You Can See Everything” was heading to the Royal Festival Hall.
Instead, the surprise screening turned out to be Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky.”
The delay raises a broader question about A24’s international release strategy at a time when social media can turn a film into a global cultural event overnight. Because “You Can See Everything” isn’t alone among the studio’s titles that make non-U.S. audiences sit tight, something that has been widely lamented online.
Oppenheim’s Robert Pattinson starring “Primetime” released in the U.S. on Sep. 25, becoming A24’s third biggest opening with $19.2 million after “Backrooms” and “Civil War.” U.K. previews kick off on Oct. 28, just days before it gets VOD launch in the U.S. (like “You Can See Everything,” Sony picked up the film for numerous other territories). Back in 2022, A24’s megahit and Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” released in the U.K. a full two months after bowing in the U.S. And then there’s another of 2026’s most hotly-anticipated titles, “Club Kid,” which is suffering a similar fate. Jordan Firstman’s acclaimed directorial debut and Cannes breakout lands in cinemas in the U.S on Nov. 6. In the U.K.? Jan. 8, 2027.
There are, of course, several factors at play. A24 — which wouldn’t comment on its release strategy for this article — only self-distributes outside North America in a couple of territories, notably the U.K./Ireland and Australia/New Zealand, and even then many of its titles go through a third party (the films named above were all handled solely by A24). There’s also the long-held sense that having an advanced U.S. campaign is extremely beneficial to help test the waters and serve as a momentum-building ice-breaker for the overseas trip.
“But for a film that is so spoiler-heavy as ‘You Can See Everything,’ a month is extraordinary,” notes one Brit doc publicity veteran. It should be noted that last Christmas’ extremely buzzy A24 release “Marty Supreme” came out in the U.K. less than a week after the U.S. and grossed in excess of $22 million, the studio’s biggest success on British shores to date.
But perhaps “You Can See Everything” is a very unique case. After all, very few people outside of the inner A24-Fielder-Oppenheim circle knew anything about it before its shock Telluride screening. As one insider notes, “The film really didn’t exist in the world until six weeks ago.” A24 has had a tight turnaround to get it into U.S. cinemas since then. Perhaps a simultaneous or near-simultaneous launch in the U.K. — where it has an office overseeing local productions but no dedicated distribution team — was a step too far (especially given it’s gearing up to release “Primetime” as well).
There’s also the possibility that simply few expected “You Can See Everything” — a documentary almost as long as “Oppenheimer” and about a disgraced and overexposed Silicon Valley founder who has already been the center of a hit TV drama — to become such a theatrical juggernaut. Was the power of Fielder and this stunt release underestimated?
Not so — at least not among those who know documentaries — claims the publicity vet.
“Within the very rarefied documentary world, the minute it was announced, everyone knew it was going be huge,” they say. “Maybe A24 isn’t plugged in as much, but as soon as Elizabeth Holmes’ face popped up, everyone was just like, ‘Well that’s just blown ‘NAZA’ out.'”
In terms of timing, to launch in the U.K. on the same date as the U.S. would have seen “You Can See Everything” go up against fellow new releases in the video game adaptation “Streetfighter” and animated feature “Forgotten Island” (and not, unlike America, the closest potential rival in terms of audiences, “Sense & Sensibility”). That said, the U.K. is about to go into school half-term holidays, not generally suited, at least when it comes to more mainstream-focused cinemas, for arthouse-focused indies.
“If someone had tried to get us to put a 3-hour doc in our cinemas just ahead of half term, we probably wouldn’t have even answered their calls,” says one exhibition exec, who admits his audiences tend to lean much more towards the popcorn titles. “This is just the wrong type and shape of film for us during that period, which is more horror classics and family fun.” The exec suggests that a post-holiday early November release might have been more strategic, but then that would put “You Can See Everything” firmly on the heels of “Primetime.”
A month-long delay to see a film the entire internet appears to be talking about might be excruciatingly frustrating — especially for those desperately now trying to avoid the spoiler-filled articles and posts littering social media. But the wait and anticipation do appear to have done wonders for pre-sales.
According to a report in The Guardian earlier this week, tickets at London’s Picturehouse Central cinema went on sale before its U.S. opening, with the demand forcing the chain to put on additional screenings. It was a similar situation at Cineworld, which has added more screenings at its major Leicester Square site and expanded bookings elsewhere after the initial batch of tickets sold out.
Variety has since heard that Australia’s Palace Cinemas — which operates in 25 locations across the country — has just broken the record for single-day pre-sales with “You Can See Everything.” Such was the demand for tickets for Fielder’s wild, genre-flipping documentary that sales doubled that of the previous record holder: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”