The documentary You Can See Everything is drawing sizable crowds to cinemas.
Unveiled at a discreet Telluride screening in September, the film was co-directed by Nathan Fielder (creator of The Rehearsal) and Lance Oppenheim (known for Ren Faire and Primetime). The project follows a month the filmmakers spent with Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Billy Evans in the period before Holmes began serving her sentence. The movie captures Fielder attempting to untangle what the couple are presenting versus what might actually be true. Critics and audiences have reacted enthusiastically: at the time of writing, You Can See Everything holds a Certified Fresh 99% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a matching 99% from verified viewers.
According to Deadline, early projections as of Saturday morning put the documentary’s three-day domestic opening between $12 million and $14 million. If that estimate holds, the film would comfortably eclipse the opening weekend of the 2026 Melania Trump documentary Melania, which debuted at $7.2 million. It would also mark the largest opening for a non-concert documentary since Michael Moore’s 2004 hit Fahrenheit 9/11, which launched with $23.9 million, and would surpass the previous non-concert opening record held by 2012’s Chimpanzee ($10.7 million).
Box Office Mojo’s current list of the biggest domestic opening weekends for documentaries (not adjusted for inflation) shows mostly concert films occupying the top spots. Before You Can See Everything is officially slotted in, the Top 10 debuts are:
– #1: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) — $93.2 million
– #2: Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008) — $31.1 million
– #3: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) — $29.5 million
– #4: Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) — $23.9 million
– #5: This Is It (2009) — $23.2 million
– #6: One Direction: This Is Us (2013) — $15.8 million
– #7: Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009) — $12.5 million
– #8: Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016) — $11.8 million
– #9: The Original Kings of Comedy (2000) — $11.0 million
– #10: Chimpanzee (2012) — $10.7 million
Given how rare it is for a non-concert documentary to open this strongly, it’s uncertain how far You Can See Everything will travel at the global box office. Looking at the international returns of a few notable non-concert documentaries highlights the variability: Melania finished with $16.7 million worldwide (a multiplier of about 2.3), Chimpanzee grossed $34.8 million globally (about a 3.2 multiplier), and Fahrenheit 9/11 went on to an enormous $222.4 million worldwide (roughly a 9.3 multiplier).
Although You Can See Everything is currently receiving even higher critical praise than Moore’s film — Fahrenheit 9/11 sits at 82% with critics and 70% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes — if the Holmes documentary follows a more typical performance curve and ends up nearer the lower end of those historical multipliers, it could still finish its theatrical run near $36 million.
Financially, $36 million would be a comfortable success. The documentary was financed and released by A24 alongside To Be Formed and Blow Out Productions and reportedly cost about $7 million to produce. With that budget, the film’s break-even threshold likely sits around $17.5 million, well below what the movie could plausibly earn worldwide. That potential makes it a profitable theatrical release—unlike the 2026 Melania documentary, which reportedly had a $40 million production budget.
Ava Thornton is an entertainment journalist with a keen eye for the latest in Hollywood, indie films, and streaming trends.
Her work blends insider knowledge with a deep appreciation for storytelling.
