A24’s “You Can See Everything” has become one of the biggest box office surprises of the year, opening to a staggering $15.6 million in the U.S. and generating a frenzy of headlines, spoilers, memes and online discussions. But for audiences outside North America, watching Nathan Fielder’s three-hour documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes — who is now expected to be a major awards season player — has become a waiting game.
Despite the film’s blockbuster debut — the second-biggest opening weekend ever for a documentary, behind “Fahrenheit 9/11” — A24 won’t release it in the U.K. and Australia until Nov. 20, more than a month after its U.S. release. Sony Pictures, which recently acquired the film for several international territories including Germany, Latin America and South Korea, has yet to announce its release plans.
As one producer jokingly said in a message to Variety: “You can see everything, unless you live outside of North America.”
Frustration was palpable at the BFI London Film Festival, where speculation was growing that the documentary would be revealed at the surprise screening on October 16. With co-director Lance Oppenheim in town earlier in the week (for his other film, “Primetime”) and a special BAFTA screening having taken place this afternoon, many festival-goers were convinced that “You Can See Everything” was headed to the Royal Festival Hall.
Instead, the surprise screening turned out to be Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky.”
The delay raises a broader question about A24’s international release strategy in an era where social media can turn a film into a global cultural event overnight. Because “You Can See Everything” is not the only one among the studio’s titles to make non-American audiences hesitate, which has been widely deplored online.
Oppenheim’s Robert Pattinson starrer “Primetime” was released in the United States on September 25, becoming A24’s third biggest opening with $19.2 million after “Backrooms” and “Civil War”. UK previews begin on October 28, just days before VOD launches in the US (like “You Can See Everything”, Sony has picked up the film for many other territories). In 2022, A24’s megahit and Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was released in the UK a full two months after its US bow. And then there’s another of the most anticipated titles of 2026, “Club Kid,” which suffers a similar fate. Jordan Firstman’s acclaimed directorial debut and Cannes hit arrive in U.S. theaters on November 6. In the UK? January 8, 2027.
Of course, several factors come into play. A24 – which would not comment on its release strategy for this article – only self-distributes outside of North America in a few territories, notably the UK/Ireland and Australia/New Zealand, and even then many of its titles go through a third party (the films named above were all handled solely by A24). There is also the long-standing sentiment that an advanced U.S. campaign is extremely beneficial to help test the waters and serve as an icebreaker for overseas travel.
“But for a film as loaded with spoilers as ‘You Can See Everything’, one month is extraordinary,” notes a veteran of British advertising. It’s worth noting that ‘Marty Supreme’, the buzzy A24 album from last Christmas, was released in the UK less than a week after the US and grossed over $22 million, the studio’s biggest hit on British shores to date.
But perhaps “You Can See Everything” is a very unique case. After all, very few people outside of A24-Fielder-Oppenheim’s inner circle knew anything about it before its shock showing in Telluride. As one insider notes: “The film didn’t really exist in the world until six weeks ago. » Since then, A24 has struggled to release in American theaters. Perhaps a simultaneous or near-simultaneous launch in the U.K. — where it has an office overseeing local productions but no dedicated distribution team — was a step too far (especially since it’s also preparing to release “Primetime”).
It’s also possible that few people expected that “You Can See Everything” — a documentary almost as long as “Oppenheimer” and about a disgraced and overexposed Silicon Valley founder who was once at the center of a hit television series — would become such a theatrical juggernaut. Was the power of Fielder and this stunt underestimated?
This is not the case – at least not among those who know documentaries – says the advertising veteran.
“In the very restricted world of documentaries, as soon as it was announced, everyone knew it was going to be huge,” they say. “Maybe the A24 isn’t as hip, but as soon as Elizabeth Holmes’ face came up, everyone was like, ‘Well, it’s just that ‘NAZA’ blew up.'”
In terms of timing, a UK launch on the same date as the US would have seen ‘You Can See Everything’ go up against other new releases in the video game adaptation ‘Streetfighter’ and the animated feature ‘Forgotten Island’ (and not, unlike America’s, the closest potential audience rival, ‘Sense & Sensibility’). That said, the UK is about to enter a mid-term school holiday, which is generally not suitable, at least as far as more mainstream cinemas are concerned, for arthouse-focused independent films.
“If someone had tried to convince us to put a three-hour documentary in our theaters right before the start of the school year, we probably wouldn’t have even answered their call,” says one exhibition director, who admits that his audiences tend to lean much more toward popcorn titles. “It’s just not the right type and form of film for us in this period, which is more horror classics and family fun.” The exec suggests that an early November release after the holidays might have been more strategic, but that would then put “You Can See Everything” firmly on the heels of “Primetime.”
A British industry insider also suggests that A24 may indeed have tried to sell “You Can See Everything”, but in the UK, a film market where independent films are finding it increasingly difficult to gain a foothold, could not find a distributor willing to pay the price (at least not until its dramatic reveal in the US). “So it might have been easier for them to free themselves,” they say.
Whatever the factor – or many factors – behind it, a month-long wait to see a movie that the entire Internet seems to be talking about and avoiding the numerous spoiler-filled articles and posts along the way will likely be excruciating for many. But it seems to have done wonders when it comes to pre-sales.
According to a report in The Guardian earlier this week, tickets for London’s Picturehouse Central cinema went on sale before it opened in the United States, with demand forcing the chain to hold additional screenings. The situation was similar at Cineworld, which added more screenings at its main Leicester Square venue and increased bookings elsewhere after the first batch of tickets sold out.
Variety Since then, we have learned that Australian company Palace Cinemas – which operates in 25 locations across the country – has just broken the one-day pre-sales record with “You Can See Everything”. Such was the demand for tickets to Fielder’s wild and groundbreaking documentary that sales doubled those of the previous record holder: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”
Gn entert
