The success of Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s You Can See Everything is breathing new life into the Elizabeth Holmes expanded universe, sending audiences back to the TV series, books, and podcasts chronicling the rise and fall of the disgraced Theranos founder.
The A24 documentary, which follows Holmes in the weeks before she began serving her prison sentence for fraud, has become a box-office and critical success. Its impact is extending well beyond theaters, with measurable increases in viewership and listening across several projects about Holmes and the Theranos scandal.
Viewership for Hulu’s The Dropout, the 2022 limited series starring Amanda Seyfried as Holmes, surged in the week following the release of You Can See Everything. According to the data-tracking service Luminate, the series generated approximately 105,000 views Oct. 16-22, up from roughly 13,000 views during the previous seven-day period — an increase of more than 700%.
HBO’s The Rehearsal, Fielder’s comedy series in which he helps people prepare for difficult real-life situations through elaborate simulations, also saw a significant uptick in viewership following the release of You Can See Everything. The series recorded approximately 66,000 views during the week of Oct. 16-22, compared with roughly 14,000 views in the preceding week, representing an increase of approximately 360%.
Viewership for Comedy Central’s Nathan for You more than doubled in the week following the release of You Can See Everything. The comedy series, which debuted in 2013 and follows Fielder as he devises unconventional business strategies for real small-business owners, garnered approximately 86,000 views from Oct. 16-22, up from roughly 42,000 views the previous week — an increase of approximately 110%.
And Showtime’s The Curse, the satirical series starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, also experienced an increase in viewership following the release of You Can See Everything. The series recorded approximately 2,000 views during the week of Oct. 16-22, compared with fewer than 1,000 views in the previous seven-day period.
Meanwhile, John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, the journalist’s account of his investigation into the company, has returned to The New York Times bestseller list. Paperback sales rose for the week ending Sept. 26 (before wide release) and were up 36% year to date compared with the same point last year, according to Circana BookScan data reported by Forbes.
The audiobook has seen an even more dramatic surge. Spotify listening to Bad Blood in the U.S. increased 715% between Sept. 23 and Oct. 13 compared with the four weeks preceding the documentary’s September premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.
Two podcasts have also benefited from the renewed attention. Spotify listening to ABC News’ The Dropout podcast, hosted by Rebecca Jarvis, increased 673% over the same comparison period, while streams of Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: The Final Chapter podcast climbed 342% .
Luminate and Gold Derby are both owned by Penske Media Corporation.
