This weekend also saw Warner Bros. hold sneak previews Saturday night of Castle Rock Entertainment's PG rated drama The Majestic.
Produced and directed by Frank Darabont, it stars Jim Carrey.
"We had excellent sneaks of The Majestic. They were very strong," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "We had 500 sneaks. We had 80 percent in the Top Two Boxes [excellent and very good]. The norm is 65 percent, so it's very strong. And we had a 65 percent definite recommend. The norm is 55 percent. It opens Friday at approximately 2,300 theaters."
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend saw Artisan Entertainment's R rated dark comedy Novocaine widen in its fifth week to a soft ESTIMATED $0.079 million at 189 theaters (+25 theaters; $420 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.7 million.
Directed by David Atkins, it stars Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern.
United Artists' R rated Bosnian war drama No Man's Land, an MGM release, moved into Los Angeles in its second week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.02 million (-4%) at 3 theaters (+1 theater; $6,729 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.052 million.
Written and directed by Danis Tanovic, it won the best screenplay award in Cannes last May and was a hit at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals. Land is Bosnia's first official Oscar entry.
"We're going to add eight markets next week [Dec. 21]," a UA spokesman said Sunday morning. The film will go wider after that. "We know this movie has strong word of mouth. We won the L.A. Film Critics' [best] foreign film yesterday."
INTERNATIONAL
Universal's international division reported that
American Pie 2 in its second weekend in Australia grossed $1.1 million on 212 screens. Pie 2 held in second place behind the third week of Harry Potter but ahead of new arrivals Thirteen Ghosts and Saving Silverman. After 11 days its cume is $4.2 million with holiday playtime still ahead of it.
In Spain, Pie 2 grossed about $0.8 million on 285 screens in its second weekend, bringing its 12 day cume to $4.1 million. There, too, the film held in second place behind Harry Potter and ahead of two new openings (The Princess Diaries and Rat Race).
Pie 2's cume to date is $118 million with nine countries still to open, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.