Street Fighter leads Friday’s box office as Elizabeth Holmes documentary takes second

Street Fighter led the North American box office with $13 million from 3,575 theaters in the Friday results reported on October 17. The Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything opened in second place with about $5.5 million from 855 theaters, giving a crowded weekend of new releases an unexpected contender near the top.

The Hollywood Reporter said its Friday figures include Thursday previews. Both outlets put Street Fighter’s projected opening weekend at about $31 million, while estimates for You Can See Everything ranged from around $12 million to $12.45 million. Those weekend figures are projections, with Sunday still ahead.

Why Street Fighter’s opening matters

The title also arrives with a mixed box-office history. Variety reported that the 1994 Street Fighter, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, made $100 million without adjusting for inflation. The 2009 film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li took in $12.8 million against a $50 million budget. Those earlier releases give the new adaptation a recognizable name, but sharply different theatrical precedents.

How You Can See Everything reached second place

Variety put You Can See Everything’s Friday haul at $5.54 million and its projected weekend at $12.45 million, above initial estimates of $7 million to $8 million. The Hollywood Reporter rounded Friday’s figure to $5.5 million and projected an opening of around $12 million. Its studio, A24, reported roughly 750 sellout screenings for the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The documentary follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the period before she began an 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors. Variety reported that comedian Nathan Fielder and filmmaker Lance Oppenheim worked on it for more than three years. Its opening from 855 theaters puts its early ticket sales alongside much wider releases, though the weekend estimate still needs to be confirmed by final returns.

Where the other new releases landed

Sense and Sensibility placed third in Variety’s Friday chart with $3.3 million from 2,545 theaters and a projected $6.7 million weekend. The Hollywood Reporter reported a slightly lower Friday figure of $3.2 million, including Thursday previews, while giving the same weekend estimate. Variety placed Whalefall fourth with $3 million Friday; both outlets projected around $7 million for its opening weekend.

That Whalefall estimate is below the $11 million the studio had projected, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Directed by Brian Duffield, the survival thriller stars Austin Abrams as a scuba diver swallowed by a sperm whale. The result leaves three new films chasing Street Fighter as the weekend’s final ticket sales come into view.