You Can See Everything Expands to 3,243 Theatres in a Push for No. 1 at the US Box Office

A24 is going for No. 1 with a documentary. This Friday, October 30, You Can See Everything will expand by roughly 600 theatres, bringing it to 3,243 screens nationwide in the United States — as many as most superhero movies get. That is an unusually bold bet on a nearly three-hour documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, in a weekend with no big new wide release.

The expansion caps a release pattern that has defied the usual rules. Two weeks ago the film played in just 855 theatres. It opened to $15.6 million, then grew in its second weekend to $19.5 million from about 2,655 locations — up roughly 25 per cent, the rare feat of grossing more in week two than week one. Its domestic total is now around $50 million, making it the third non-concert documentary ever to reach that mark, with a 98 per cent Tomatometer rating from 186 reviews and a 96 per cent audience score, according to Comic Basics.

The data behind the push, all trade estimates, is: a $15.6 million opening from 855 theatres, a $19.5 million second weekend from about 2,655 theatres, $45.1 million after ten days and around $50 million now, with a third-weekend forecast of $12 million to $17 million from Boxoffice Pro. The film premiered as a surprise screening at Telluride, then played the New York Film Festival, and it arrives in UK and Ireland cinemas in November.

The only film standing in its way is DC’s Clayface, which opened at No. 1 with an estimated $24 million — read our report on its opening here: https://filmverse.in/clayface-box-office-43-million-worldwide-dc-tom-rhys-harries/ — but with Halloween falling on Saturday, forecasters give the documentary the bigger upside of the two. If it reaches No. 1, it would be the first non-music documentary to top the US box office since Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004.

Here is the Filmverse take: what A24 has done here is a masterclass in platform releasing, the opposite of how most studios now treat documentaries. Instead of opening wide and hoping, A24 opened narrow enough that every screen was full, generated more than 2,000 sellouts and a national conversation in week one, then bought the wide break with the proceeds and the proof. Audiences will still show up for a three-hour film about a disgraced founder if it gives them something to argue about afterwards — and word of mouth, properly staged, is still the most powerful marketing a film can have.

Sources: World of Reel, Comic Basics, Boxoffice Pro