A24’s “You Can See Everything” has become one of the year’s biggest box office surprises, opening to a staggering $15.6 million in the U.S. and generating a frenzy of headlines, spoilers, memes and online chatter. But for audiences outside North America, catching Nathan Fielder’s three-hour documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes — now expected to be a major player in awards season — has become a frustrating waiting game. Despite the film’s blockbuster debut — the second-biggest opening weekend ever for a documentary, behind “Fahrenheit 9/11” — A24 isn’t releasing it in the U.K. and Australia until Nov. 20, more than a month after its U.S. bow.
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 put it in a message to Variety: “You Can See Everything, unless you live outside N. America.” The frustration was palpable at the BFI London Film Festival, where excited speculation was mounting that the documentary would be unveiled as the surprise screening on Oct. 16.
With co-director Lance Oppenheim in town earlier that week (for his other film, “Primetime”) and a special BAFTA screening having taken place that afternoon, many festivalgoers were convinced “You Can See Everything” was heading 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 at a time when social media can turn a film into a global cultural event overnight. Because “You Can See Everything” isn’t alone among the studio’s titles that make non-U.S. audiences sit tight, something that has been widely lamented online.
Oppenheim’s Robert Pattinson starring “Primetime” released in the U.S. on Sep. 25, becoming A24’s third biggest opening with $19.2 million after “Backrooms” and “Civil War.” U.K. previews kick off on Oct. 28, just days before it gets VOD launch in the U.S. (like “You Can See Everything,” Sony picked up the film for numerous other territories). Back in 2022, A24’s megahit and Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” released in the U.K. a full two months after bowing in the U.S. And then there’s another of 2026’s most hotly-anticipated titles, “Club Kid,” which is suffering a similar fate.
Jordan Firstman’s acclaimed directorial debut and Cannes breakout lands in cinemas in the U.S on Nov. 6. There are, of course, several factors at play. A24 — which wouldn’t comment on its release strategy for this article — only self-distributes outside North America in a couple of territories, notably the U.K./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’s also the long-held sense that having an advanced U.S. campaign is extremely beneficial to help test the waters and serve as a momentum-building ice-breaker for the overseas trip. It should be noted that last Christmas’ extremely buzzy A24 release “Marty Supreme” came out in the U.K. less than a week after the U.S. and grossed in excess of $22 million, the studio’s biggest success on British shores to date. But perhaps “You Can See Everything” is a very unique case.
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