Fielder's Holmes Doc Sets Second-Best Doc Opening Ever
By @sharedot · · 7 pages
- Film
- Box Office
- Documentary
A24's 'You Can See Everything' opened to about $12 million on 855 screens, the second-best documentary opening behind 'Fahrenheit 9/11'.
The Surprise of the Weekend
While Paramount's 'Street Fighter' took No. 1 with a $31 million opening, Deadline reports the scene stealer was A24's three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary 'You Can See Everything', charting the second-best opening ever for a documentary at $12-$14 million from just 855 screens — behind only 2004's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' ($23.9M).
Hollywood Outbreak notes rival estimates had it heading toward roughly $12.45 million, well above earlier expectations of $7-8 million.
Sellouts, Lines and Demographics
Deadline reports roughly 1,300 sellout screenings so far this weekend, with lines around the block at NYC's Village East and Nashville's Belcourt.
The audience skews heavily young: Deadline says 62% of ticket buyers were 18-34, while The Hollywood Reporter via Yahoo says 75% of buyers in New York and Los Angeles were under 35. Deadline pegs turnout at 56% male, with 44% coming with a spouse or partner and 41% buying tickets day-of.
Records in the Exit Polls
According to Deadline, the film earned an unprecedented 91% definite recommend on PostTrak for a documentary — the kind of score successful Marvel movies like 'Black Panther' once posted — with 98% overall positive.
The Hollywood Reporter, per Yahoo, notes a 99% approval on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and audiences and the highest-rated Letterboxd title ever at 4.8. Deadline attributes the buzz partly to co-director Nathan Fielder's Instagram reaching 1 million fans and 30 million video views.
Who Knew Holmes Still Drew?
Deadline frames the surprise plainly: eight years after Theranos cratered and four years after Hulu's Emmy-winning 'The Dropout', who knew there was still this much interest in Holmes? The outlet credits A24's sneaky secret world premiere at Telluride.
Per Yahoo's THR report, directors Fielder and Lance Oppenheim spent more than three years on the project, following Holmes shortly before she began her prison sentence for defrauding Theranos investors.
What Comes Next
Deadline notes there is no CinemaScore because the release is under 1,000 screens, but RelishMix says awareness of 102 million is outpacing indie dramas by 40%, with exceptional 61:1 share-reposting. With 855 screens and this kind of heat, the platform rollout has room to expand.