executive producer. For the Navy, the film is an initiative to recruit SEALs and SWCC. According to The Huffington Post, the Navy required the active-duty SEALs to participate. Following a bidding war with Dark Castle Entertainment, Alcon Entertainment (both companies had their own respective distribution deals with Legendary's then-partner Warner Bros.), Lionsgate, and FilmDistrict, Relativity Media acquired the rights to the project on June 12, 2011 for $13 million and a $30 million in prints and advertising commitment. Deadline Hollywood called it "the biggest money paid for a finished film with an unknown cast". The production budget was estimated to be between $15 million and $18 million. Principal photography Filming took place in Cambodia where an explosion was shot in Phnom Penh with 300 children as extras. Scenes were shot in San Diego at Blue Foot Bar and in a house in the North Park area. Other locations included Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ukraine, Florida, and at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The crew filmed at Navy training sites to provide realistic settings, such as a drug cartel base, a terrorist camp on an isolated island, and a smuggler's yacht. Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut used Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras with Zeiss ZE and Panavision Primo lenses. The cameras followed the SEALs' planned out missions in the film. Hurlbut used an 18mm Zeiss ZE mounted on the SEALs' helmets to capture their point of view. The 25mm Zeiss ZE was used to capture natural light coming through windows. The 21mm Zeiss ZE was used as a stake cam so a truck could drive over it. The Navy held final cut privileges in order to remove any frames to address security concerns and kept raw footage to use for real-life training and other purposes. Release Act of Valor was scheduled to be released on February 17, 2012 in the U.S. to coincide with Presidents' Day, but was pushed back to February 24, 2012. The film was released in the UK and Ireland on March 23 as Act of Valour by Momentum Pictures. Home video releases Act of Valor was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on June 5, 2012 with a rating of R. Accolades The film was a 2012 Teen Choice Awards nominee for Choice Action Movie. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 28% based on 144 reviews with an average rating of