Interest in Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos fraud scandal has surged as the documentary You Can See Everything
, focusing on the disgraced former CEO, sparks a viewership boom for the 2022 Hulu series The Dropout.
According to Variety, viewership for The Dropout,
starring Amanda Seyfried as Holmes, jumped 186% in September compared to the previous month, driven by the September 6 announcement of the previously secret film’s first teaser. The surge continued as the documentary’s October 16 premiere approached, with viewership during the week of October 12 increasing 92% over the prior week.
The documentary, produced by A24 and directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, opened to an extraordinary $15 million (A$21.5 million, £11.2 million) in North America on 855 screens. This marked the best opening weekend for a documentary in over two decades and the highest-grossing film on fewer than 1,000 screens since 2006. The film, filmed in secret in 2023, played to sold-out showings amid rave reviews and a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. It also sparked renewed interest in Bad Blood,
John Carreyrou’s 2018 book about Theranos, which returned to the New York Times bestseller list.
EXCLUSIVE: "You Can See Everything" has resulted in a 186% boost in viewers for Amanda Seyfried's "The Dropout" on Hulu.https://t.co/lCh7BmQilb pic.twitter.com/lzXnlGuyXJ
Box Office Surge and Cultural Impact
You Can See Everything
outperformed the video game adaptation Street Fighter,
pushing it to second place on Monday’s box office chart. The film’s success has reignited discussions about Holmes, who became the youngest female self-made billionaire in the U.S. with a $4.5 billion net worth by age 30 before her company collapsed in 2018. Holmes, who served an 11-year prison sentence for fraud, is depicted in the documentary as a figure of psychological complexity, with the Guardian calling it “a stupefying and gloriously destabilizing hall of psychological mirrors.”
A24 plans to submit the documentary for consideration in multiple Oscar categories, including best picture, cinematography, and director, alongside campaigning for Amanda Seyfried’s performance. The Dropout
has also seen a resurgence, with JustWatch reporting a 200% increase in search points week-over-week after the documentary’s release. The series, which originally aired in 2022, has accumulated 2.2 million hours watched since September, with viewership doubling in the week of October 12 alone.
Global Expansion and Industry Response
The documentary will expand to at least 2,600 screens in its second domestic weekend, with anticipation building for its November premieres in Australia and the UK. Pundits speculate that You Can See Everything
could become the first documentary ever nominated for an Oscar for best picture. The film’s twisty narrative and critical acclaim have positioned it as a cultural phenomenon, with Variety noting its “once-in-a-lifetime collision of director and subject.”
Meanwhile, The Dropout
has seen its streaming numbers rise sharply, with 997,000 hours watched this month alone. The series, created by Elizabeth Meriwether, had previously won acclaim, including an Emmy for Seyfried’s performance. The renewed attention highlights the enduring fascination with Holmes and the Theranos scandal, as both the documentary and its predecessor continue to captivate audiences ahead of its November premieres in Australia and the UK.