by the kids in the ages of 10 and 11. In the United Kingdom, Akeelah and the Bee was first shown at the Cambridge Film Festival on July 7, and it premiered in the British theaters on August 18. The film was also screened in October 2006 at the Rome Film Festival, in which it competed at the Alicy in the City section. Home media The film was released on DVD by Lionsgate Home Entertainment on August 29, 2006, becoming the first DVD offered for sale at Starbucks. Its bonus features on the single-disc DVD include seven deleted scenes and a 25-minute making-of video featuring Atchinson and the cast. DVD sales in the United States reached $5,391,947 as 317,942 copies were sold after one week on sale. By December 2006, American consumers had spent a total of $25,855,396 to purchase 1,512,498 copies, making it one of the three most profitable home video releases of Lionsgate in 2006. Critical reaction The film received generally positive reviews from film critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 85% approval rating based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A warm, family-friendly underdog story, featuring terrific supporting performances from Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett". On Metacritic, the film has an average weighted score of 72 out 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare average grade of "A+"—a feat only 52 films reached between 1982 and 2011. National Board of Review elected it among the best ten independent films produced in 2006. Additionally, two film critics, Chris Kaltenbach of The Baltimore Sun and Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, added the film on their list of the ten best films of the year. St. Petersburg Timess Steve Persall elected it the best family film of 2006. African American Literature Book Club elected it as the best black film of 2006, as well as chose Fishburne as the second best actor, and Palmer and Basset as the second and eighth best actresses, respectively. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote it is "an uncommonly good movie, entertaining and actually inspirational". Writing for Film Journal International, Doris Toumarkine praised its pace and how "Atchison takes spelling competitions and conveys the excitement of the 'sport,' the appeal of the 'game,' the thrill of the win, [and]