‘You Can See Everything’ Just Pulled Off a Box Office Feat Almost No Movie Can, and Documentary History May Be Next

Most movies lose steam after opening weekend, and the weekend-to-weekend drop is usually the first sign of how a film will fare. Rising instead of falling is the kind of thing studios dream about, and almost never see. That’s what makes the run of A24’s ‘You Can See Everything’ one of the most intriguing box office stories of the fall.

The documentary from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Billy Evans in the month before she reported to prison. It premiered as a surprise screening at the Telluride Film Festival, stopped at the New York Film Festival, and opened in theaters on October 16. With a runtime of 174 minutes, it is not the kind of film that normally behaves like a mainstream hit.

‘YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING’ earned $19.5M in its second weekend, a 25% increase from its opening weekend. It is tracking to become one of the highest grossing non-music documentaries of the century. https://t.co/HZLJadNUbS

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 25, 2026

Now the second-weekend box office numbers are in, and they are remarkable. ‘You Can See Everything’ earned $19.5M in its second weekend, a rise of roughly 25% from its $15.6M opening. The film is now tracking to become one of the highest-grossing non-music documentaries of the century.

Reports differ slightly on the exact percentage, with some outlets putting the gain at 23%, but the takeaway is the same. A film increasing its gross in the second frame is considered exceptional, and one doing it with a nationwide expansion in such a short span is rarer still. The film’s domestic total now stands at about $45M.

Part of the jump came from simple availability. The film opened in 855 theaters and expanded to 2,655 locations in its second weekend, which gave far more people the chance to see what everyone was talking about. Even so, the demand was strong enough to push it neck and neck with newcomer ‘Clayface’ for the top spot.

The early signs were already there. The documentary posted a $6.1M second Friday, the biggest second Friday ever for a documentary, ahead of the $5.3M that ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ made on the same day. That is a notable comparison, since Michael Moore’s film is the all-time domestic leader among traditional documentaries.

The film has been moving up the list of top-grossing non-music documentaries at a rapid pace. Within about a week, it passed the totals of ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ at $22.8M, ‘Born to Be Wild’ at $26M and ‘Chimpanzee’ at $29M. That placed it among the biggest non-music documentaries ever released in North America before its second weekend even finished.

The bigger prizes are still far ahead. ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ earned about $119M domestically and roughly $222M worldwide, while ‘March of the Penguins’ collected around $77M in the US. One analysis suggests that if the Holmes documentary clears $100M, it would land in the all-time top 10 for non-concert documentaries.

The teaser trailer ‘YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING,’ a documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Thirty-four days before she’s sent to prison, Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. In theaters this October. https://t.co/LHRvYLXULH

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 7, 2026

The audience profile helps explain the momentum. On opening weekend, 70% of ticket buyers were under 35, and the film has been described as a Gen Z and Millennial favorite. It has also been a strong date-night pick, with couples making up a notable share of its audience.

Cost may play a part as well. The average ticket for ‘You Can See Everything’ was $12.88, compared with $14.65 for ‘Clayface’. For a three-hour film produced for a reported $7M, the return so far has been staggering, and critics have helped fuel the enthusiasm with a Certified Fresh 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film is now on course to pass ‘Primetime’, Oppenheim’s other A24 release this fall, which has grossed $46.4M. It could also eventually challenge A24’s winter hit ‘Marty Supreme’, which brought in $96M domestically over the holiday period last year. Reports say A24 will campaign for a Best Picture nomination, which would be a first for a documentary.

The international picture is still waiting to unfold. The film does not open in the UK and Australia until November 20, more than a month after its US debut, so a large chunk of its potential audience has yet to see it. That staggered rollout could keep the conversation alive for weeks to come.

The real test will be the third weekend, when the novelty of the expansion fades and word of mouth carries the film on its own. If the pattern continues, documentary box office history could be rewritten before the year is out.

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