OTHER OPENINGS

This weekend did not see the arrival of any other high profile or wide openings.

SNEAK PREVIEWS

This weekend saw no national sneak previews.

EXPANSIONS

On the expansion front, this weekend saw Fox Searchlight Pictures R-rated hit thriller The Deep End go wider in its sixth week with an OK ESTIMATED $0.75 million (-22%) at 412 theaters (+11 theaters; $1,823 per theater). Its cume is approximately $6.9 million.

Written produced and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, it stars Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic and Jonathan Tucker.

MGM's release of United Artists' R-rated youth appeal comedy Ghost World continued to widen in its ninth week, holding well with an ESTIMATED $0.37 million (even) at 104 theaters (+13 theaters; $3,667 per theater). Its cume is approximately $4.2 million.

Directed by Terry Zwigoff, it stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas and Steve Buscemi.

Miramax's R-rated Apocalypse Now Redux widened in its seventh week with an OK ESTIMATED $0.2 million (-30%) at 105 theaters (+13 theaters; $1,904 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.5 million.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper and Harrison Ford.

Paramount Classics' R-rated drama Our Lady of the Assassins went wider in its second week with a still hopeful ESTIMATED $0.055 million (-2%) at 12 theaters (+8 theaters; $4,595 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.1 million.

Directed by Barbet Schroeder, it stars German Jaramillo and Anderson Ballesteros.

INTERNATIONAL

On the international front, Universal reported that it opened The Fast and the Furious in the U.K. this weekend to a solid $1.7 million on 400 screens for Friday and Saturday. That total does not include the 63 screens where the film is playing in Ireland, where theaters were closed Friday as a national day of mourning for the U.S.

Universal said Fast's two-day U.K. gross was 20 percent higher than the $2 million that Scary Movie 2 kicked off to in the U.K. a week ago.

Universal also reported that its international release of Bridget Jones's Diary (co-financed with Miramax, which distributed it domestically) is now up to $130 million, making it this year's seventh biggest grossing film internationally. It still has 14 countries in which it will be opening -- including Japan on Sept. 22.

Universal said that Jurassic Park III's international cume is now at $165 million, making it the fifth highest grossing film of the year internationally. There still are eight countries in which JP III will be opening.

Universal's American Pie 2 had its first international opening this weekend in Israel, kicking off to a strong $217,000 on 30 screens ($7,200 per screen) and capturing first place. The studio will be releasing Pie 2 over the next four months. Its next openings are slated for Sept. 27 in Germany and Austria.

WEEKEND COMPARISONS

Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $61.23 million, up about 29.29 per cent from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $47.36 million.

This weekend's key film gross was down about 11.05 percent from last weekend of this year, when key films took in approximately $68.82 million.

Last year, Universal's second week of The Watcher was first with $5.81 million at 2,745 theaters ($2,115 per theater); and Warner Bros.' opening week of Bait was second with $5.49 million at 2,352 theaters ($2,332 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $11.3 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $16.2 million.