reviews, holding a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 96 reviews, with an average score of 5.96/10; the consensus states: "Day Watch is frequently cheesy but it offers enough twists, surprises, and inventive action sequences to maintain viewer interest." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Leslie Felperin from Variety wrote that the sequel would satisfy fans of the original but also criticized its longer runtime. Box office According to Channel One Russia (producer of film), by January 4, 2006 about two million people in Russia and CIS had already watched the film. The release of the film across Russia was timed for the long holiday period (from 1–9 January) and created demand among the ticket-buying public unprecedented in the post-Soviet period. Gemini Film states that preliminary assessment for Day Watch'' box office by 25 June 2006 is $31,965,087. Day Watch was marketed as "the first film of the year", it was opened in theaters across Russia on January 1, 2006, in the United States on June 1, 2007 and the United Kingdom on October 5, 2007. The film's budget was 4.2 million dollars USD and the film grossed 31.9 million at the Russian box office. Russian vs. North American releases One of the key differences between the North American release and the Russian original is that while they both open with a particular sequence, the North American version is truncated. Anton and Anatoly play basketball in the computer room. Alisa visits Galina Rogova's little daughter to find out if she saw Gorodetsky. Anton calls his ex-wife (Yegor's mother) to find out where Yegor is. In the subway, Anton escapes from the pursuing Dark Others by jumping into a running train. The pursuers kill a night guard who tries to stop them. At the party Anton grabs a microphone from a singer and starts singing Communist songs. Yegor is trying to suck out the life force of Svetlana through the needle he put into her at the beginning. In addition, there are many trims of existing scenes and excised lines. Also, there are some cuts for violence, e.g. Yegor pouring a pot of hot sausages over a vendor and Anton's brutal beating by the security guard. The Unrated DVD is the same as the Russian release of the DVD. See also Vampire film