the premiere Paul McCullough of Take One observed that Night of the Living Dead was the "most profitable horror film ever ... produced outside the walls of a major studio". The film had earned between $12 and $15 million at the U.S. box office after a decade. It was translated into more than 25 languages and released across Europe, Canada and Australia. Night of the Living Dead grossed $30 million internationally, and The Wall Street Journal reported that it was the top-grossing film in Europe in 1969. Upon its initial release, many critics dismissed the film as insignificant. The New York Times critic Vincent Canby referred to the film as a "junk movie" as well as "spare, uncluttered, but really silly." However, other critics recognized the film as an artistic achievement. The first critic to take it seriously in this regard was George Abagnalo, who reviewed the film in Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, saying, "It should open at an art house and run for at least a month, because it is a work of art." In a 1971 Newsweek article, Paul D. Zimmerman noted that the film had "become a bona fide cult movie for a burgeoning band of blood-lusting cinema buffs". Fifty years after its release, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews, being regarded by many as one of the best films of 1968. In 2008, the film was ranked by Empire magazine No. 397 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. The New York Times also placed the film on their Best 1000 Movies Ever list. In January 2010, Total Film included the film on its list of The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Rolling Stone named Night of the Living Dead one of The 100 Maverick Movies in the Last 100 Years. Reader's Digest found it to be the 12th scariest movie of all time. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives Night of the Living Dead a 96% approval rating based on 74 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "George A. Romero's debut set the template for the zombie film, and features tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent." Night of the Living Dead was awarded two distinguished honors decades after its debut. The Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry in 1999 with other