Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s film about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes opened to box office numbers not seen in more than 20 years for a narrative documentary.
“You Can See Everything” hauled in $15 million on its opening weekend, according to Variety.
That’s well short of the $23.9 million record Michael Moore set in 2004 with “Fahrenheit 9/11,” but very impressive for a documentary that isn’t a concert or tour film.
By comparison, “Melania,” the Amazon documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, made $7.1 million when it opened in January. That film is said to have cost $40 million to make and market. It earned a total of just over $16.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Reports estimate that “You Can See Everything” was made on a budget of around $6 million.
The 3-hour film examines the weeks leading up to Holmes surrendering to begin serving a sentence of over 11 years for defrauding investors in her faulty blood testing healthcare company.
“You Can See Everything” opened in 855 North American theaters on Friday. Production company A24 announced on Sunday that “one of the best reviewed movies of all time” will play on an increasing number of screens this week.
Critics and film fans gave the movie a 98% favorability rating on the film-ranking site Rotten Tomatoes.
Veteran film writer Peter Travers suggested in his review that “You Can See Everything” may compete with “The Odyssey” to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. No documentary has won that Oscar.