Editing Serpico (section)

==Release==
The film was released on December 5, 1973, in New York{{sfn|Kirshner, Jonathan|2012|p=227}} and on December 18 in Los Angeles.{{sfn|AFI Staff|2019}} The opening week in New York garnered $123,000.{{sfn|Variety Staff|1973|p=8}} ''Serpico'' was released nationwide on February 6, 1974.{{sfn|Variety Staff|1974|p=4}} The film was a critical and commercial success.{{sfn|AFI Staff|2019}} It grossed $29.8 million in the United States and Canada, generating $14.6 million in [[theatrical rental]]s.{{sfn|Box Office Mojo staff|2020}} It earned theatrical rentals worldwide of $23.4 million.{{sfn|Knoedelseder, William Jr.|1987|p=2}}

Serpico attended the premiere of the film,{{sfn|Spiegel, Maura|2019|p=160}} but he did not finish watching it.{{sfn|Kilgannon, Corey|2010}} Serpico felt "distant" from the results.{{sfn|Kaufman, Michael|1973|p=58}} In an interview with [[Pauline Kael]] for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', he concluded that it "didn't give a sense of the frustration you feel when you're not able to do anything".{{sfn|Kramer, Carol|1974|p=Weekend 2}}

According to Lumet's account, he met Serpico shortly before the production. The director asked him to stay clear of the set, to not make Pacino "self-conscious" regarding his portrayal.{{sfn|Spiegel, Maura|2019|p=160}} Serpico watched the film in its entirety for the first time in 2010.{{sfn|Kilgannon, Corey|2010}} In a later interview, he declared that Lumet barred him from the set after he interrupted the shooting of a scene that in real life "never happened". Serpico also criticized the dismissal of Avildsen by the production team. Serpico and Avildsen remained friends, and shared a property on [[Long Island]] for three years in the 1980s.{{sfn|D'Ambrosio, Antonino|2017}}

[[New York City Police Commissioner]] [[Michael Codd]] stated that the film "tends to imply that Serpico was the only honest cop in the whole department".{{sfn|Walter, Greg|1974|p=1-I}} Detective Durk was not pleased with ''Serpico''. Durk, who was depicted in the character of Bob Blair, felt that the movie would deter other policemen to denounce corruption. In an interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'', he considered the movie to be unfair to honest police officers. Durk stated that the end of the film conveyed that "the cost of honesty is martyrdom", and Serpico's departure for Switzerland showed him "wounded and frustrated".

Meanwhile, [[The Bronx|Bronx]] district attorney [[Burton B. Roberts]] declared that it "bears absolutely no relationship to the truth". Lumet defended his [[artistic license]] on the portrayal of the story, as he felt he desired to make a film that "people believed in".{{sfn|Kaufman, Michael|1973|p=58}} Bregman dismissed the critics, as he felt that the real names were not relevant for viewers in cities outside New York.{{sfn|Kramer, Carol|1974|p=Weekend 2}} Maas dismissed Durk's claims regarding honest policemen and asked, "Where were they?"{{sfn|McCabe, Bruce|1974|p=14}}