You Can See Everything Box Office Enters Top Ten

Illustration: Fox Bulletin

The You Can See Everything box office run has turned a documentary into one of the bigger theatrical stories of the autumn. The film took $19.5 million in its second weekend, bringing it to $45.1 million after ten days, and it finished barely $5 million behind a DC Studios release at number one.

Documentaries do not usually trade in these numbers. This one is already inside the all-time top ten for the format, concert films included.

Where the You Can See Everything box office total now ranks

Counting every documentary ever released, including concert movies, the film sits inside the top ten. Strip out the music acts and the long-running IMAX titles that accumulate grosses over years, and it ranks third, behind only Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins.

Poster for the documentary You Can See Everything — Image: TMDB

The expansion explains a good deal of the second-weekend figure. The film went from 855 theatres to 2,655, roughly tripling its footprint, and still held well enough to post $19.5 million. It is directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, and its subject is Elizabeth Holmes.

Holding above $19 million while more than tripling the theatre count is the part that separates this from a normal documentary release. Most expansions trade a high per-screen average for a wider footprint and end up roughly flat in gross. This one grew the footprint and kept the money, which is why the all-time comparisons started appearing after the second weekend rather than at the end of the run.

Clayface took the weekend, but not by much

DC Studios’ Clayface opened at number one with $24 million across 3,458 theatres. That was under the studio’s own projection of $25 million to $30 million, though the film earned an A- CinemaScore and added about $19 million internationally for roughly $43 million worldwide in the frame.

The rest of the top five ran Wildwood at $11.6 million, Street Fighter at $8.6 million for a $46.9 million running total, and Wicker at $5.7 million. Rotten Tomatoes laid out the chart in full.

What the current weekend looks like

Final figures for the Halloween frame are not in yet. Variety’s Saturday morning projection had Clayface falling 57.3% to about $10.25 million, which would be a steep but not unusual second-weekend drop for a horror release that front-loads its audience. Treat that number as a projection rather than a result.

For readers putting a watchlist together around it, our guide to the best horror movies covers the genre Clayface is working in, and the Marvel movies in order rundown is the companion piece for anyone tracking the other comic book universe.

What the ranking does and does not claim

Inside the all-time top ten is not the same as the highest grossing documentary ever, and the two keep getting conflated. Counting everything, concert films included, the film is in the top ten. Strip out music acts and the IMAX titles that accumulate grosses across years of museum bookings, and it is third, behind Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins. Both framings are accurate and neither makes it number one.

The more useful measure is the hold. A film that triples its theatre count and still posts $19.5 million is being carried by word of mouth rather than by a marketing push, and that is the pattern that produces a long run rather than a big opening.

Written by Hannah Whitfield

Hannah Whitfield covers home, lifestyle and entertainment for Fox Bulletin, from kitchen equipment worth the counter space to the record books behind the year's biggest films, albums and shows. Specifications, prices and chart positions get checked before anything is recommended.

View all posts →