film grossed $9.6 million in 2,575 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking No. 4 at the box office. It grossed a total of $119 million worldwide—$66.7 million in the United States and Canada and $52.3 million in other territories. Critical reaction On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 204 reviews, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Charlie Wilson's War manages to entertain and inform audiences, thanks to its witty script and talented cast of power players." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Governmental criticism and praise Some Reagan Era officials, including former Under Secretary of Defense Fred Ikle, have criticized some elements of the film. The Washington Times reported claims that the film wrongly promotes the notion that the CIA-led operation funded Osama bin Laden and ultimately produced the September 11 attacks; however, other Reagan-era officials have been more supportive of the film. Michael Johns, the former foreign policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation and White House speechwriter to President George H. W. Bush, praised the film as "the first mass-appeal effort to reflect the most important lesson of America's Cold War victory: that the Reagan-led effort to support freedom fighters resisting Soviet oppression led successfully to the first major military defeat of the Soviet Union... Sending the Red Army packing from Afghanistan proved one of the single most important contributing factors in one of history's most profoundly positive and important developments." Russian reception In February 2008, it was revealed that the film would not release in Russian theaters. The rights for the film were bought by Universal Pictures International (UPI) Russia. It was speculated that the film would not appear because of a certain point of view that depicted the Soviet Union unfavorably. UPI Russia head Yevgeny Beginin denied that, saying, "We simply decided that the film would not make a profit." Reaction from Russian bloggers was also negative. One wrote: "The whole film shows Russians, or rather Soviets, as brutal killers." Historicity Mujahideen support While the film depicts Wilson as an immediate advocate for supplying the mujahideen with Stinger missiles, a former Reagan administration official recalls that he and Wilson,