“You Can See Everything” Explodes With $19.5 Million At The Box Office; “Clayface” takes first place
NEW YORK — DC Studios scored a modest, R-rated victory with “Clayface,” taking home a $24 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. But the biggest theatrical success remained A24’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary “You Can See Everything,” which grossed $19.5 million in its first weekend in wide release.
The film “You Can See Everything” directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim went from 855 locations to 2,655. Expanding, it continued to exceed expectations. With $45.1 million in two weeks, it already ranks among the highest-grossing documentaries of all time.
“You Can See Everything” became a sensation in part by attracting waves of Gen Z moviegoers. Its awards season prospects are also rising. If “You Can See Everything” is nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, it would be the first documentary nominated for Hollywood’s top prize.
“A24 invested $7 million in an interesting but complicated idea, with no beginning, middle or end, that turned into a zeitgeist movie about money, dreams, truth and reality,” said David A. Gross, who publishes the FranchiseRe box office newsletter.
In 3,458 theaters, Warner Bros. “Clayface” narrowly edged out the A24 version for first place. It’s a great start to the tale of Gotham City’s villains and the third theatrical release for DC under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran. In an attempt to merge body horror with a comic book film, it stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, a rising movie star who undergoes experimental facial surgery after a mob boss disfigures him.
While such an opening would have been a failure for most superhero films, “Clayface” was budgeted for only $44 million, a fraction of the expense of most comic book films. This added $19 million internationally.
It was enough to provide some stability and assured profitability for DC Studios after the disappointment of “Supergirl.” Earlier this year, that film only grossed $126 million worldwide on a production budget of $170 million.
Audiences gave “Clayface” an “A-” CinemaScore, a high grade for a horror release. The reviews were also largely good. Competition for horror audiences can be fierce in October, but “Clayface” may end up becoming the month’s top draw.
“Clayface is a great example of studios taking risks, with DC venturing into R-rated horror and body horror, something that is definitely not a typical comic book film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, market trends manager for Rentrak.
Last weekend’s blockbuster movie, the video game adaptation “Street Fighter,” sank like a stone, falling 72% with $8.6 million in its second weekend. The Paramount Pictures film, made for approximately $80 million, grossed $46.9 million domestically in two weeks.
“Wildwood,” the latest stop-motion animated film from Portland, Ore.-based studio Laika, debuted in third place with $11.8 million from 2,779 locations. The film, directed by Laika chief executive Travis Knight, received excellent reviews and strong audience scores (an “A” CinemaScore), representing a notable improvement over the studio’s previous release: 2019’s “The Missing Link” (a $5.9 million opening).
But Wildwood is still unlikely to turn a profit, given that it cost $100 million to make. The PG-13 fantasy follows a teenage girl who enters an enchanted forest to find her kidnapped little brother.
“Wicker,” a comedic fable starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, opened with an excellent $5.8 million from 1,471 theaters. Acquired for $2.5 million at Sundance by Black Bear Pictures, the much-loved “Wicker” is an offbeat love story about a fisherwoman (Colman) who asks the local basket weaver to weave her a husband (Skarsgård).
The weekend’s other new releases were either hard to find or rarely seen.
“Klara and the Sun,” by Taika Waititi, adapted from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, grossed just $725,000 in 880 theaters for Sony Pictures.
Amazon MGM chose not to even report revenue from Sacha Baron Cohen’s poorly received mockumentary “Ali G: Who Iz I?”
Although Cohen took the rare step of conducting many interviews as himself, not as a character, “Ali G: Who Iz I?” was almost absent during its opening weekend. The film’s theatrical footprint was significantly reduced as Cohen faced backlash in the United Kingdom due to cultural appropriation and racial caricatures.
With final domestic numbers released Monday, this list takes into account estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:
- “Clayface,” $24 million.
- “You Can See Everything,” $19.5 million.
- “Wildwood,” $11.8 million.
- “Street Fighter,” $8.6 million.
- “Wicker,” $5.8 million.
- “Other Mom,” $3.9 million.
- “Sense and Sensibility”, $3.4 million.
- “Whalefall,” $3.2 million.
- “Verity,” $3.1 million.
- “Resident Evil,” $3 million.
The key takeaways from this article were generated with the help of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article itself is solely written by humans.
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