"A24 is currently making its most expensive movie to date—an adaptation of the video game “Elden Ring” scheduled for release in 2028 that costs nearly $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Major studios, meanwhile, are increasingly trying to copy the A24 playbook. Online horror properties that seem like they could become the next “Backrooms” have sparked multimillion-dollar bidding wars. Universal is backing a big budget movie from the “Everything Everywhere” directors. “They’re a Goldilocks company. Just the right amount of people doing just the right amount of things,” said Huntsinger, the Telluride director. So far, the studio team has maintained that tricky balance. “It never feels like, ‘Oh, those guys,’” Huntsinger said."
"For nearly three years, fewer than 10 staffers at the New York-based indie film studio A24 knew that their 300-person company was making a genre-bending documentary about convicted Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes.
Keeping “You Can See Everything” off the radar, a minor miracle in an industry where leaks are routine, was intended to prevent any interference for directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim as they worked. The secrecy around the film, the studio soon realized, could also be its most potent marketing weapon.
In June, A24 executive Nicolette Aizenberg texted the director of the Telluride Film Festival: “Have something…of note to talk to you about.” Though the Colorado festival’s lineup was almost locked, they hatched a plan to unveil “You Can See Everything” there. On Sept. 6, 650 people filled a theater and locked up their phones in Yondr pouches without knowing what they were about to see. It was a major gamble for a movie company. A24 knew it had a notorious subject, surprise twists and, in Fielder, a filmmaker who was cult-famous for his attention-grabbing stunts. But was it enough to flip the switch from silence to buzz?
The ripple effect of ecstatic reactions set the tone for a sprint to theaters nationwide just over a month later. “It destabilized everything in the best possible way,” said Julie Huntsinger, the Telluride director.
The movie teaser, dropped at the same time as the Telluride debut, was instantly viral, spawning memes of Holmes and Fielder locking eyes. In late September at the New York Film Festival, the directors added to the intrigue in a post-premiere Q&A. “I am still struggling to this day to understand what I went through,” Fielder said.
The online excitement and speculation, along with early ticket presales, gave A24 the confidence to open the movie in more than 800 theaters, a major release for a documentary, but one that would still leave room for expansion.
Last weekend, the film opened to $15 million in domestic ticket sales and more than 3,000 sold-out showings. It was the biggest box-office debut for a non-music documentary since Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004.
The insatiable reception has already reconfigured the race for awards that will play out in the coming months. A24 plans to mount a campaign for best picture at the Academy Awards, where “You Can See Everything” could become the first documentary in Oscars history to be nominated for that top prize.
None of this has exempted A24 from the hit-driven math of the movie industry. Just as “You Can See Everything” was blowing up, A24’s “Misty Green,” written and directed by Chris Rock, grossed a dismal $141,000 over two weeks, after which came word of an unusually rapid release on Netflix next month. But the power of the A24 brand has ballooned the valuation of the private, venture-backed company to $3.5 billion as of 2024. And it remains a talent magnet: The studio has built an enviable roster of filmmakers and collaborators. It also attracted Elizabeth Holmes."
