Standing in for the extremely valuable "Balabushka" cue in the movie was actually a Joss J-18 (which later became the Joss 10-N7), made to resemble a classic Balabushka. Mike Sigel was technical director, and he and Ewa Mataya Laurance served as technical consultants and shot-performers on the film. Absent from the film is the character Minnesota Fats, played by Jackie Gleason in "The Hustler". Newman later said that he had wanted the character to appear, but that none of the attempts to include him fit well into the story that was being written. According to Scorsese, Gleason apparently agreed with Newman's opinion that Minnesota Fats was not essential to the film's story. Scorsese said that Gleason was presented a draft of the script that had Fats worked into the narrative, but that upon reading it, Gleason declined to reprise the role because he felt that the character seemed to have been added as "an afterthought". Reflecting the general theme of the film, director Martin Scorsese delivers an opening uncredited voiceover, describing the game of nine-ball, over a scene of cigarette smoke and a piece of cue chalk:  The soundtrack to the motion picture was released by MCA Records in 1986. Track listing: "The Color of Money" held its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City, NY, on October 8, 1986. The film was commercially released in the United States on October 17, 1986. The American release was limited to only select theaters throughout the country, with the film opening in more theaters during the next four weeks of its initial release. After its run, the film grossed $52,293,982 domestically. "The Color of Money" was first released on DVD on March 14, 2000. The film was later released on Blu-ray on June 5, 2012. Neither of the releases contain any special features pertaining to the film itself. The film received positive critical response upon its release, though some critics thought that the film was an inferior followup to "The Hustler". Based on 47 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 89% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "That it's inferior to the original goes without saying, but Paul Newman and Tom Cruise are a joy to watch, and Martin Scorsese's direction is typically superb".