"Changeling" performed modestly at the box office, grossing more internationally than in North America. The worldwide gross revenue was $113 million. The film's limited American release saw it take $502,000—$33,441 per theater—in its first two days. Exit polling showed strong commercial potential across a range of audiences. CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave "Changeling" was A− on an A+ to F scale. Audiences were mostly older; 68% were over 30 and 61% were women. Audience evaluations of "excellent" and "definitely recommended" were above average. The main reasons given for seeing the film were its story (65%), Jolie (53%), Eastwood (43%), and that it was based on fact (42%). The film made $2.3M in its first day of wide release, going on to take fourth place in the weekend box office chart with $9.4M—a per-theater average of $5,085. This return surpassed Universal's expectations for the weekend. "Changeling"s link to the Inland Empire—the locale of the Wineville killings—generated additional local interest, causing it to outperform the national box office by 45% in its opening weekend. The film surpassed expectations in its second weekend of wide release, declining 22% to take $7.3M. By the fourth week, "Changeling" had dropped to fifth place at the box office, having taken $27.6M overall. In its sixth week the number of theaters narrowed to 1,010, and "Changeling" dropped out of the national top ten, though it remained in ninth place on the Inland chart. "Changeling" completed its theatrical run in North America on January 8, 2009, having earned $35.7M overall.