A24’s three-hour documentary focusing on disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, You Can See Everything, is expanding nationwide this weekend with box office projections reaching $20 million to $25 million, putting the nonfiction release in direct contention for the top spot at the North American box office. Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the film is widening its footprint from 855 theaters to roughly 2,600 locations for the October 23–25 frame, setting up an unusual showdown against Warner Bros. and DC Studios' newly released body-horror feature, Clayface.

The theatrical surge follows a breakout debut last weekend, where You Can See Everything defied traditional specialty box office ceilings. While initial tracking for its second frame varies across industry analysts, the rapid theatrical expansion and sustained weekday ticket sales have positioned the documentary as one of the fall season's biggest commercial surprises.

A Historic Opening and Unprecedented Word of Mouth

During its opening weekend on October 18, You Can See Everything generated an immediate theatrical rush despite playing on a limited footprint of 855 screens. Opening-weekend gross figures varied slightly across industry trackers: ABC News, citing studio estimates from A24, reported a $15 million debut, whereas The Movie Blog and other industry reports cited $15.6 million or $15.8 million. In its first frame, the documentary finished in second place domestically behind Paramount and Legendary’s video game reboot Street Fighter, which claimed first place with $31 million from 3,575 theaters.

According to A24, the documentary recorded more than 2,000 sellout showings across its opening weekend. It marked the largest opening for a release playing on fewer than 1,000 screens since Borat earned $26.5 million in 2006, and the largest non-music documentary debut since Fahrenheit 9/11 brought in nearly $24 million from 868 locations two decades ago, unadjusted for inflation. TheWrap noted that the release achieved the biggest opening for a documentary in 22 years and stands to become the first nonfiction feature since 2018 to surpass $30 million domestically by the close of its second weekend.

Unlike traditional issue-oriented documentaries that rely on older art-house patrons, You Can See Everything has been propelled by younger moviegoers and intense social media discussion. According to Boxoffice Pro and exit polling data, roughly 70% of the opening-weekend audience was under the age of 35. The project was filmed in secret over three years, during which Fielder spent more than a month alongside Holmes, her partner Billy Evans, and their two young children in the final days before she reported to federal prison.

Critical and audience reception has fueled its commercial momentum. The film holds a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 99 score on Metacritic, and a 91% "definite recommend" score from audiences polled by PostTrak. With a reported production budget of under $7 million and marketing costs below $10 million, the film is already a substantial financial success for A24.

"Everybody underestimated the movie, because on paper this is like, wait, a three-hour documentary?" Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, told ABC News. "But he (Fielder) is a huge draw, and he has a huge following on social media, and then Elizabeth Holmes is just a character that you couldn't even make up. It's stranger than fiction, and that's really compelling."

Weekday Surge Sets Up Second-Weekend Expansion

Rather than experiencing a steep post-opening drop, You Can See Everything outperformed major studio tentpoles throughout the workweek, overtaking Street Fighter for the daily number-one spot on multiple occasions. According to Yahoo Entertainment, the documentary led the domestic chart on Monday with $2.5 million, posted $2.6 million on Tuesday, and took the top spot again on Wednesday with $2.6 million and Thursday with $2.2 million, finishing its first full week with $25.6 million compared to Street Fighter’s $38.3 million.

Other trade publications reported slightly different midweek tallies. Deadline reported a Monday gross of $2.57 million and a Wednesday estimate of $2.3 million for an $18.1 million midweek running total, while TheWrap later cited a $20.8 million cumulative total following weekday receipts.

As the documentary moves into 2,600 theaters on Friday, projections for its second three-day weekend diverge across tracking services. While several industry estimates point toward a $20 million to $25 million frame, The Hollywood Reporter noted that the film is projected to gross at least $18 million and could climb higher. Meanwhile, Boxoffice Pro offered a more conservative forecast of $15 million to $20 million, Deadline pointed toward the mid-to-high teens or better, Gold Derby predicted $21 million, and independent box office forecaster Todd M. Thatcher projected $23.8 million.

DC's 'Clayface' Fights for the Top Spot

The primary obstacle standing between You Can See Everything and first place at the domestic box office is Clayface, the third theatrical feature under DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. Directed by James Watkins from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan, the R-rated body-horror film stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a struggling actor whose face is disfigured before he seeks help from a scientist played by Naomi Ackie.

Clayface began its rollout Thursday afternoon, earning an estimated $3.5 million in preview screenings across North America, accompanied by a 94% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, a 75% critics rating, and 4.5 stars on PostTrak. However, opening-weekend forecasts for the DC release vary depending on the source:

Studio Projections: Warner Bros. projects a domestic opening between $25 million and $30 million across more than 3,400 North American theaters, alongside $20 million to $25 million internationally, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rival and Trade Estimates: Yahoo Entertainment cited domestic weekend forecasts between $20 million and $25 million, while The Movie Blog noted that while some projections climbed to $25 million to $35 million, rival studios placed the opening between $22 million and $28 million. Gold Derby reported a tracking range of $22 million to $30 million.

For DC Studios, Clayface represents a calculated shift toward mid-budget genre filmmaking. Shot in the United Kingdom for a net production cost of $44 million before marketing, the project carries far less financial risk than last summer’s Supergirl, which carried a $170 million budget, opened to approximately $37.1 million to $38 million domestically, and concluded its global run around $126 million to $126.4 million.

Crowded Fall Multiplexes and Audience Shifts

The clash between a supervillain horror movie and a three-hour nonfiction portrait highlights a shifting theatrical environment where eventized specialty releases can compete directly with studio franchises. Last weekend, the unexpected pull of You Can See Everything and the debut of Street Fighter left little room for Disney’s $60 million survival thriller Whalefall, which opened in fourth place with $8 million domestically from 3,065 theaters ($10.8 million full week) behind Universal’s horror release Other Mommy.

This weekend adds several more counter-programming options to theaters. Laika’s stop-motion animated feature Wildwood, directed by Travis Knight, arrives in 2,926 locations with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Sony is also debuting director Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun starring Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams, while Amazon MGM Studios is launching Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy Ali G: Who Iz I? for a one-week theatrical window ahead of its Prime Video debut. In the specialty space, Black Bear’s Sundance romantic fantasy Wicker, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, earned $620,000 in Thursday previews ahead of its run in 1,471 locations.

Whether You Can See Everything overtakes Clayface by Sunday evening will depend on how well the documentary translates its sold-out limited engagement into broad suburban multiplex turnout across 2,600 screens, and whether DC's horror experiment sustains momentum beyond its Thursday night fanbase.