{"id":943489,"date":"2026-10-23T17:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/943489\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T17:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T17:22:10","slug":"you-can-see-everything-inside-a24s-staggered-global-release-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/943489\/","title":{"rendered":"You Can See Everything: Inside A24’s Staggered Global Release Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA24<\/a>\u2019s \u201cYou Can See Everything<\/a>\u201d has become one of the year\u2019s 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\u2019s three-hour documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes \u2014 now expected to be a major player in awards season \u2014 has become a waiting game.<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite the film\u2019s blockbuster debut \u2014 the second-biggest opening weekend ever for a documentary, behind \u201cFahrenheit 9\/11\u201d \u2014 A24 isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs one producer jokingly put it in a message to Variety: \u201cYou Can See Everything, unless you live outside N. America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 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, \u201cPrimetime\u201d) and a special BAFTA screening having taken place that afternoon, many festivalgoers were convinced \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d was heading to the Royal Festival Hall.<\/p>\n

\n\tInstead, the surprise screening turned out to be Peter Farrelly\u2019s \u201cI Play Rocky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe delay raises a broader question about A24\u2019s international release strategy at a time when social media can turn a film into a global cultural event overnight. Because \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d isn\u2019t alone among the studio\u2019s titles that make non-U.S. audiences sit tight, something that has been widely lamented online.<\/p>\n

\n\tOppenheim\u2019s Robert Pattinson starring \u201cPrimetime\u201d released in the U.S. on Sep. 25, becoming A24\u2019s third biggest opening with $19.2 million after \u201cBackrooms\u201d and \u201cCivil War.\u201d U.K. previews kick off on Oct. 28, just days before it gets VOD launch in the U.S. (like \u201cYou Can See Everything,\u201d Sony picked up the film for numerous other territories). Back in 2022, A24\u2019s megahit and Oscar winner \u201cEverything Everywhere All at Once\u201d released in the U.K. a full two months after bowing in the U.S. And then there\u2019s another of 2026\u2019s most hotly-anticipated titles, \u201cClub Kid,\u201d which is suffering a similar fate. Jordan Firstman\u2019s acclaimed directorial debut and Cannes breakout lands in cinemas in the U.S on Nov. 6. In the U.K.? Jan. 8, 2027.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are, of course, several factors at play. A24 \u2014\u00a0which wouldn\u2019t comment on its release strategy for this article \u2014\u00a0only 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut for a film that is so spoiler-heavy as \u2018You Can See Everything,\u2019 a month is extraordinary,\u201d notes one Brit doc publicity veteran. It should be noted that last Christmas\u2019 extremely buzzy A24 release \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d came out in the U.K. less than a week after the U.S. and grossed in excess of $22 million, the studio\u2019s biggest success on British shores to date. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut perhaps \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d is a very unique case. After all, very few people outside of the inner A24-Fielder-Oppenheim circle knew anything about it before its shock Telluride screening. As one insider notes, \u201cThe film really didn\u2019t exist in the world until six weeks ago.\u201d A24 has had a tight turnaround to get it into U.S. cinemas since then. Perhaps a simultaneous or near-simultaneous launch in the U.K. \u2014\u00a0where it has an office overseeing local productions but no dedicated distribution team \u2014\u00a0was a step too far (especially given it\u2019s gearing up to release \u201cPrimetime\u201d as well).<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s also the possibility that simply few expected \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d \u2014\u00a0a documentary almost as long as \u201cOppenheimer\u201d and about a disgraced and overexposed Silicon Valley founder who has already been the center of a hit TV drama \u2014 to become such a theatrical juggernaut. Was the power of Fielder and this stunt release underestimated?<\/p>\n

\n\tNot so \u2014\u00a0at least not among those who know documentaries \u2014\u00a0claims the publicity vet. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWithin the very rarefied documentary world, the minute it was announced, everyone knew it was going be huge,\u201d they say. \u201cMaybe A24 isn\u2019t plugged in as much, but as soon as Elizabeth Holmes\u2019 face popped up, everyone was just like, \u2018Well that\u2019s just blown \u2018NAZA\u2019 out.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn terms of timing, to launch in the U.K. on the same date as the U.S. would have seen \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d go up against fellow new releases in the video game adaptation \u201cStreetfighter\u201d and animated feature \u201cForgotten Island\u201d (and not, unlike America, the closest potential rival in terms of audiences, \u201cSense & Sensibility\u201d). That said, the U.K. is about to go into school half-term holidays, not generally suited, at least when it comes to more mainstream-focused cinemas, for arthouse-focused indies. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf someone had tried to get us to put a 3-hour doc in our cinemas just ahead of half term, we probably wouldn\u2019t have even answered their calls,\u201d says one exhibition exec, who admits his audiences tend to lean much more towards the popcorn titles. \u201cThis is just the wrong type and shape of film for us during that period, which is more horror classics and family fun.\u201d The exec suggests that a post-holiday early November release might have been more strategic, but then that would put \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d firmly on the heels of \u201cPrimetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOne U.K. industry insider also suggests that A24 may have actually tried to sell \u201cYou Can See Everything,\u201d but in the U.K., a theatrical market where indie films are increasingly struggling to find a foothold, couldn\u2019t find a distributor willing to pay the price (at least not before its dramatic U.S. unveiling). \u201cSo it may have been simpler for them to release themselves,\u201d they say. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever the factor \u2014\u00a0or numerous factors \u2014\u00a0behind it, a month-long wait to see a film the entire internet appears to be talking about and avoid the numerous spoiler-filled articles and posts along the way will likely be excruciating for many. But it does appear to have done wonders for pre-sales.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to a report in The Guardian earlier this week, tickets at London\u2019s Picturehouse Central cinema went on sale before its U.S. opening, with the demand forcing the chain to put on additional screenings. It was a similar situation at Cineworld, which has added more screenings at its major Leicester Square site and expanded bookings elsewhere after the initial batch of tickets sold out.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety has since heard that Australia\u2019s Palace Cinemas \u2014\u00a0which operates in 25 locations across the country \u2014\u00a0has just broken the record for single-day pre-sales with \u201cYou Can See Everything.\u201d Such was the demand for tickets for Fielder\u2019s wild, genre-flipping documentary that sales doubled that of the previous record holder: \u201cTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A24\u2019s \u201cYou Can See Everything\u201d has become one of the year\u2019s biggest box office surprises, opening to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[24826,49,48,75,307750],"class_list":["post-943489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-a24","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-you-can-see-everything"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}