Box office expectations are always more modest for documentaries than feature films, which is some kind of sociological commentary on us humans that I don’t have the brain power to articulate right now. Why is Kismet’s brain so tired? Because I had my MIND BLOWN at the movie theater watching a documentary! This was the opening weekend for Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s genre-busting Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything, and I went and saw all three hours of it. It’s a real doozy! (Complimentary) I’m including NO SPOILERS here, instead sticking to the data and it’s astounding: YCSE opened in limited release on fewer than 900 movie screens — and it still placed second at the weekend box office, making $15 million. For context: that’s twice as much money as Tom Cruise’s Digger made in its opening weekend. It’s also the biggest opening for a (non-music) documentary in over 20 years.

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s genre-bending film about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes made more than $15 million in ticket sales.

Many weekend screenings in cities like New York and Los Angeles were sold out despite the three-hour running time.

The film’s distributor, A24, called it “one of the largest limited-release openings of the 21st century.”

“You Can See Everything” opened on fewer than 900 screens following a jaw-dropping surprise premiere at the Telluride Film Festival last month.

Fielder and Oppenheim worked on the project in secret for years, filming with Holmes and her partner Billy Evans in the weeks before Holmes went to prison in 2023. Holmes was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud Theranos investors, but she tried to convince the filmmakers of her innocence.

Fielder, who appears on camera interviewing Holmes and Evans, takes the film in unexpected directions, thrilling critics and theatergoers. The film has an extraordinarily high 99% “fresh score” on Rotten Tomatoes and a record-high 4.8 rating on Letterboxd.

The film “has rewritten the rules of documentaries as we know them,” CNN’s David Mack wrote in an opening-day article about why it “absolutely lives up to the hype.”

Theatergoers clearly wanted to find out for themselves. “You Can See Everything” enjoyed the biggest opening for a film on fewer than 1,000 screens since “Borat” in 2006. It was the biggest non-music documentary since “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.

The other big documentary this year — Amazon MGM’s “Melania” film about the first lady — premiered on twice as many screens and made less than half as much money, $7.1 million, in its opening weekend. And “Melania” was considered a box-office success in documentary terms when it was released.

“You Can See Everything” is in a category of its own. Some film critics have predicted it will receive a Best Picture nomination. It opens nationwide next weekend, sure to benefit from all the buzz from its opening weekend.

Overall, “You Can See Everything” finished No. 2 at the weekend box office in North America. Paramount’s video game adaptation of “Street Fighter” topped the box office with an estimated $30 million in ticket sales from 3,575 screens. Paramount is owned by Skydance, which also owns CNN.

[From CNN]

That dig at the Melania doc is simply delicious! And I’m not sure why CNN is saying Melania was a box office success by documentary standards, when it was actually losing money from the jump. I guess recollections may vary… But enough about that unlikable, aloof protagonist, and back to Elizabeth Holmes. Again, I’m trying for no spoilers here, just some of my general impressions. So I think it’s safe if I say that Holmes is an enigma. And rather than cracking the code, so to speak, YCSE revels in the profound awkwardness of being unable to get a grasp on what on earth is going on in Holmes’ head. And speaking of “what on earth,” back when the film was first revealed and we got the one-minute teaser, I described the scene between Holmes and Fielder as “two humanoids sussing each other out.” That assessment was half right, and I think you know which half is firmly humanoid versus which one showed himself to be deeply human. What else… As hinted in reviews, Holmes’ partner Billy Evans takes up a lot of space; that’s all I’ll say about him for now. And the surprise element that producer Emma Stone mentioned after the Telluride screening: I thought it was a cinematically brilliant way for the filmmakers to extend the storytelling when up against certain limitations. It’s a big swing, but it really might carry YCSE to a Best Picture Oscar nom.

You can see everything too when YCSE goes into wider release on Friday — go forth so we can discuss in more detail!

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos are screenshots from trailer and credit Getty