Can ‘You Can See Everything’ Pass ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’?

By Elena Vasquez

Where does the documentary rank?

At $45.1 million domestically, A24’s You Can See Everything holds a top-10 documentary position. The film has no international release yet. That ranking does not adjust for inflation.

Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the film examines Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. It passed Free Solo at $17.5 million and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? at $22.8 million. It also passed An Inconvenient Truth at $24.1 million.

It passed Katy Perry: Part of Me at $25.3 million. It also passed One Direction: This Is Us at $28.8 million. It surpassed the nature films Earth and Chimpanzee without adjusting for inflation.

Only March of the Penguins ($77.4 million), Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($73 million) and Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($72 million) rank higher in domestic grosses among the titles cited.

It also leads the narrower category excluding concerts, politics and nature films. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? previously held that distinction.

The initial, cryptic teaser of Fielder and Holmes created a meme-worthy stir. Its early position could make it a long-term documentary benchmark. It remains too early to know whether it will win Oscars or affect judgments of Holmes and Theranos.

A top-10 domestic position is secure; the worldwide record remains beyond reach for now.

How did Fahrenheit 9/11 break through?

Michael Moore’s 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 remains the domestic documentary record holder. Its $119.1 million gross exceeds the new film by $74 million.

It earned $103 million abroad, lifting its worldwide total to $222.4 million. This Is It leads at $267.9 million globally, although most of that came abroad.

The Moore film examined President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Television airing before the election made it ineligible for an Oscar.

Disney blocked Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s Miramax from releasing the film. The Weinsteins bought it back. They then partnered with Lions Gate and IFC Films.

Prints and delivery took only 24 days. Lions Gate co-president Tom Ortenberg predicted that the film would disrupt distribution and set the record as the biggest documentary ever.

The film opened on 868 screens on June 25, 2004. It ranked No. 1 in America with $23.9 million. New releases White Chicks and The Notebook earned less.

You Can See Everything opened at a similar theater count. It took $15.6 million in its first weekend. By July 4, it had nearly doubled its screens and earned another $22 million.

Fahrenheit 9/11 passed $100 million by its fifth weekend. It ran for 15 weeks into October, before the election.

Moore’s record relied on a broad rollout, rapid expansion and election-year political attention.

Did Fahrenheit 9/11 change politics?

The film did not prevent George W. Bush from winning a second term. It probably is not Moore’s best work. Despite that, its release became a national media event.

Headlines asked whether the film would damage Bush in the election, and its scale turned the release into a national media event despite its limited electoral effect. Political pundits disputed its accuracy. Other filmmakers answered with parody documentaries.

Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, attacked Moore as a “jerk.”

Moore already had name recognition from Bowling for Columbine, then among the highest-grossing documentaries. Fahrenheit 9/11 brought still more publicity and attention.

His follow-up, Sicko, received a $9 million budget from the Weinsteins. It earned $24.5 million domestically, above Bowling for Columbine.

Fahrenheit’s record came from controversy, celebrity reaction and election-year attention, not ticket sales alone.

Can A24 still break the record?

Theatrical conditions have changed sharply since 2004. A political documentary like Fahrenheit 9/11 would most likely open on streaming now.

In a hyper-polarized climate, cautious distributors and streamers might resist that release. The documentary theatrical market has fallen drastically in the post-Covid era.

Melania had led 2026’s documentary grosses with $16.6 million domestically. That performance was an outlier.

To catch Fahrenheit 9/11, You Can See Everything needs Obsession-level word of mouth and continued gains as it adds screens, after already tripling its theater count in Weekend 2.

A long theatrical run could put the film in the $70 million range. An awards push would strengthen its bid for the top five documentaries.

Since Fahrenheit 9/11 took $103 million abroad, the new film still needs an international release to approach $222.4 million worldwide.

The coming weekends will test whether word of mouth can turn a top-10 position into a $70 million contender.