‘You Can See Everything’ Defies Expectations with Stunning Debut of $15 Million Debut
Director Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s much-hyped look at Elizabeth Holmes has generated a massive $15 million from just 855 theaters.
Those ticket sales were enough for second place behind Paramount’s video game adaptation Street Fighter, which opened to $30 million from 3,575 venues.
Heading into the weekend, “You Can See Everything” was aiming for $7 million to $8 million, which would have been remarkable for a documentary, especially one that doesn’t involve music. Moreover, this one runs at nearly three hours and wasn’t on anyone’s radar until two months ago.
This year has been an exception with two major docus, the other being Amazon MGM’s “Melania,” a $40-million-budgeted glimpse at first lady Melania Trump.
That film opened to $7.1 million from 1,778 theaters — at the time registering as the biggest opening for a non-music or concert doc in over a decade — and ended its run with $16.3 million.
You Can See Everything carries a budget in the single digits and will be much more profitable than Melania.
“Street Fighter” earned another $20.1 million overseas for a decent global start of $51.1 million. Critics and audiences were lukewarm on the video game reboot, which landed a “B-” grade on CinemaScore exit polls and a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Kitao Sakurai and starring Noah Centineo and Andrew Koji, “Street Fighter” follows two estranged fighters who are recruited to enter a tournament that forces them to face off against each other.
Legendary and video game developer Capcom co-financed “Street Fighter” for $82 million, with Paramount only on the hook for distribution. The long-gestating film was originally set at Sony as part of Legendary’s pact with the studio and moved to Paramount once the initial deal expired. It’s the third movie based on the Capcom video game series following 1994’s box office winner “Street Fighter,” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and 2009’s misfire “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.”
Disney and 20th Century’s “Whalefall,” a survival thriller starring Austin Abrams as a scuba diver who is swallowed by a sperm whale, missed expectations with $8 million from 3,065 locations. The movie also floundered at the international box office with $9.5 million from 51 territories for a global total of $17.5 million. Reception were mixed, with audiences bestowing a “B” grade on CinemaScore and critics’ reviews averaging a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Whalefall” cost $60 million and requires substantial staying power, since theater owners keep about half of ticket sales.
“Sense and Sensibility,” the latest remake of Jane Austen’s classic, opened to $7.2 million from 2,545 screens. The well-reviewed movie has earned $11 million internationally, bringing its worldwide tally to $18.5 million. Led by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles, the Focus Features film carries a $25 million budget and doesn’t have as high a hurdle to get out of the red.
Universal’s horror film Other Mommy claimed the No. 3 spot with $8.3 million in its second weekend of release. Despite a painful 70% decline from its debut, “Other Mommy” is already a hit with $44.8 million domestically and $78.7 million globally against a modest $18 million budget.
Among specialty releases, Netflix’s generation-spanning drama La Bola Negra collected $277,500 from four theaters in Los Angeles and New York — averaging $69,375 per location. Those returns stand as the second-highest screen average ever for a non-English language film behind 2019’s “Parasite,” which captured $393,216 from three theaters — averaging $131,072 per location.
For a more recent comparison, Neon’s multilingual legal thriller “Fjord” debuted last weekend to $124,000 from four theaters — translating to $31,000 per location.
This weekend is notable because it’s the first time Netflix has ever reported box office grosses. The streamer plans to keep “La Bola Negra” in theaters for 45 days, a traditional window in post-pandemic times, before the film’s Netflix release on Dec. 2. Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis, “La Bola Negra” was embraced at Cannes Film Festival and won Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award, which has become an Oscar precursor.
