office, grossing $5,659,133 — an average of $4,030 per theater. The film has grossed $56,106,607 worldwide as of March 17, 2019 — $17,266,000 in the United States and Canada and $38,840,607 in other territories. The film took part in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival September 20, 2007. The film was shown at the London Film Festival on October 17, 2007, and was released in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2007. Reception The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 89% based on 200 reviews, with an average rating 7.64/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "David Cronenberg triumphs again, showcasing the Viggo Mortensen's onscreen prowess in a daring performance. Bearing the trademarks of psychological drama and gritty violence, Eastern Promises is a very compelling crime story." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Todd McCarthy of Variety, David Elliott of The San Diego Union-Tribune, and film critic Tony Medley noted the twists in the film. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and wrote "Eastern Promises is no ordinary crime thriller, just as Cronenberg is no ordinary director", and said that "Cronenberg has moved film by film into the top rank of directors, and here he wisely reunites with Mortensen" who "digs so deeply into the role you may not recognize him at first." Ebert said the film has a fight scene that "sets the same kind of standard that The French Connection set for chases. Years from now, it will be referred to as a benchmark." J. Hoberman of The Village Voice said "I've said it before and hope to again: David Cronenberg is the most provocative, original, and consistently excellent North American director of his generation." Hoberman said the film is "directed with considerable formal intelligence and brooding power" and continues the trend of "murderous family dramas" seen in Spider and A History of Violence. Hoberman called the film "graphic but never gratuitous in its violence", "garish yet restrained", "a masterful mood piece", "deceptively generic" and said the film "suggests a naturalized version of the recent Russian horror flick Night Watch." When describing the cast, Hoberman said "Mueller-Stahl may be perfunctory ... but Vincent Cassel literally flings himself into [his role]" and "Mortensen is even more electrifying as Nikolai than in A History of Violence". Chris