Darkness. Release The film premiered in Spain on 3 October 2002, and was then given a wide release there on 11 October. It was released in a number of European countries throughout 2003, and was then sold to Miramax Films, but was shelved for nearly two years. It was eventually theatrically released on 25 December 2004 in the US, via Miramax's Dimension Films branch, in a heavily censored Miramax-mandated PG-13 version. It was given an even later release in the United Kingdom, in March 2005. Despite many negative reviews and very little promotion, Darkness still did moderately well at the United States box office. It was released Christmas Day 2004, which was a Saturday. It was the seventh highest earner that weekend with $6.1 million (at $3,625 average per theater), earning over half of its budget over two days. The following week, it dropped to tenth highest earner with $4.6 million. Darkness eventually earned $34.4 million worldwide, with a $10.6 million budget. Reception Darkness received extremely negative reviews from both critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 4% based on 55 reviews. It received an average rating of "F" on CinemaScore, indicating overwhelming dislike. The Los Angeles Timess Kevin Thomas awarded the film one out of four stars, deeming it "trite and flat," and "too mechanical to be persuasive or scary." Ned Martel of The New York Times noted: "Darkness, which crept into theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, tries to spook holiday revelers with a guessing game about which member of a handsome American family, relocated to Spain, will kill another. But the real mystery is why such a mangled film was not junked altogether." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said the film is "a horror movie so vague about the nightmare it’s spinning, it seems scared of its own shadows... Darkness was clearly tossed together like salad in the editing room, since it’s little more than the sum of its unshocking shock cuts." David Blaylock The Village Voice also gave the film a middling review, writing: "Moments hint at a metaphoric statement on child abuse, but the film proves mainly to be a commentary on poor electrical wiring." Bilge Ebiri of The New York Sun similarly noted the film as containing elements of a "a disturbing family drama," adding that it is "at its best when exploring Dad's bouts with his inner demons -