OTHER OPENINGS

This weekend also saw the arrival of USA Films' R rated black and white drama The Man Who Wasn't There to a muscular ESTIMATED $0.673 million at 39 theaters ($17,772 per theater). Its cume after five days is approximately $0.7 million.

Directed by Joel Coen and written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, it stars Billy Bob Thornton and Frances McDormand.

"We did really well," USA Films distribution president Jack Foley said Sunday morning. "It's the fifth highest platform print average ever. We're behind Boogie Nights, Quiz Show, Fargo and The Shawshank Redemption."

Insiders noted that Man's launch is all the more impressive considering its very modest marketing budget. The film's campaign was essentially print only, with only very limited television advertising on opening day in New York and L.A.

"This gross could have been bigger except for the World Series," Foley explained. "In New York and Phoenix clearly were affected by it. You could see the gross drop from Friday to Saturday for obvious reasons (in those markets)."

Miramax Zoe Films' opening of its R rated French comedy Amelie got off to a very promising start with an ESTIMATED $0.14 million at 3 theaters (2 theaters in New York and 1 in Los Angeles), averaging $46,666 per theater.

"Amelie expands to the top 40 markets on Nov. 9 with about 50 runs," Miramax senior vice president, marketing David Kaminow said Sunday morning, very pleased with the film's platform launch

SNEAK PREVIEWS

This weekend saw 20th Century Fox hold 500 well attended national sneak previews Friday night of its PG-13 rated romantic comedy Shallow Hal, opening wide this Friday (Nov. 9).

Directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, it stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black.

"Friday night we sneaked Shallow Hal in 500 theaters in the U.S. and Canada," Fox distribution executive vice president Rick Myerson said Sunday morning. "We had between 90-95 percent fill-ups. The audience was evenly distributed between men and women and they seemed to equally like it exactly the same. 99 percent fell into the top two categories, very good and excellent. And it looks exciting for this weekend."

EXPANSIONS

On the expansion front this weekend saw New Line Cinema go wider in its second week with its R rated drama Life as a House, building nicely with an ESTIMATED $0.674 million at 88 theaters (+59 theaters; $7,670 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.1 million

Directed by Irwin Winkler, it stars Kevin Kline and Kristin Scott Thomas.

"The screen average for last week was only $9,000, so it didn't drop that much on us and we're pretty happy," New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "We're going to go to 1,200 screens Friday (Nov. 9)."

Fox Searchlight's R rated animated feature Waking Life added theaters in its third week with a still promising ESTIMATED $0.27 million at 57 theaters (+31 theaters; $4,790 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.75 million.

Written and directed by Richard Linklater, Life is a likely candidate in the new best animated feature Oscar category.

"The film is still playing as a sophisticated city film," Fox Searchlight distribution president Stephen Gilula said Sunday morning. "It's very modest in the multiplexes in the suburban areas. But, most importantly, many of our runs went up this weekend in the second weekend in the new regional markets that we opened last week. So it's very, very encouraging.

"In cities such as Denver, San Diego and Seattle actually went up. It's a word of mouth film amongst college students and young people, who get their information from alternative media."

The film will continue to widen, he said, "on Nov. 9 and 16. We'll get up to about 75 markets and 120 or 125 screens going into Thanksgiving. We won't go much deeper than that because it really is an art film. But we're very pleased with how it's been able to penetrate the market. In the first four markets-New York, L.A., Toronto and Chicago-it's held extremely well."