A24 documentary on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes opens to $15 million
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The gist
A24's Elizabeth Holmes documentary took $15 million in its first US and Canadian weekend.
The film, shot before she entered prison, has revived questions about Theranos.
Background
Elizabeth Holmes is the American entrepreneur who founded and led Theranos Inc. (2003–18), a blood-testing startup that promised a wide array of tests from just a few drops of blood at far lower cost. She became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire in 2014, was convicted in 2022 of four federal fraud counts involving investors, and entered federal prison in 2023. The new A24 documentary You Can See Everything, by directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, was filmed in the weeks before she entered prison and has generated fresh questions about her and her past.
How it unfolded
- Feb 3, 1984Elizabeth Anne Holmes is born in Washington, D.C.
- 2003While attending Stanford University, Holmes founds Theranos and serves as founder and CEO until 2018.
- 2004Holmes drops out of Stanford at age 20 to focus on the business.
- 2014At 30, Holmes is dubbed the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, and the youngest woman billionaire ever.
- Oct 2015Inc. puts Holmes on its cover calling her 'the next Steve Jobs'; weeks later The Wall Street Journal publishes John Carreyrou's article 'Theranos Has Struggled with Blood Tests.'
- 2022Holmes is convicted of four federal fraud counts involving Theranos investors.
- May 2023Holmes enters federal prison.
- 2026Holmes's prison sentence is reduced from 11 years, three months to 10 years, three months.
- Oct 16, 2026A24 releases the documentary You Can See Everything in the United States and Canada.
- Oct 16, 2026 –18, 2026The film's first weekend takes $15 million in US and Canadian cinemas, the second-best documentary opening on record.
- Oct 19, 2026Former Theranos employee Tyler Shultz tells CBS Mornings the blood-testing device Holmes displays in the film 'was not the device that I worked with 12 hours a day.'
Who’s saying what
- Expert
- Former Theranos employee and whistleblower Tyler Shultz says the device shown in the film was not the one he worked with and was never used on patients.
- Analysts
- CBS Mornings' host put the opening at '$15 million at the box office this weekend,' calling it 'the second highest opening for a documentary ever.'
- Party
- Holmes's partner Billy Evans said 'It's hard because I'm building a business and I'm trying to free my wife from federal prison and I'm raising two kids.'
Still unverified
Tyler Shultz's claim that the device shown in the film was an unfinished future version never used on patients is contested by the film's presentation of it.