SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend Lions Gate Films' R rated drama Monster's Ball went wider in its 15th week following Halle Berry's best actress Oscar victory with an okay ESTIMATED $1.56 million at 713 theaters (+37 theaters; $2,185 per theater). Its cume is approximately $25.3 million.
Directed by Marc Forster, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle.
IFC Films' unrated erotic drama Y Tu Mama Tambien went wider in its fourth week with a still arousing ESTIMATED $1.1 million at 179 theaters (+128 theaters; $6,145 per theater). Its cume is approximately $2.9 million.
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, it stars Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.
Fox Searchlight Pictures' R rated romantic comedy Kissing Jessica Stein expanded in its fourth week to a still tempting ESTIMATED $1.01 million (+40%) at 319 theaters (+188 theaters; $3,150 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.3 million.
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, it stars Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen.
"Jessica's done well," Fox Searchlight distribution president Stephen Gilula said Sunday morning. "We had a nice fourth weekend. We expanded to 319 theaters this week. We were pretty much across the country. It's a very successful limited release for us and we expect to be playing for quite a few more weeks because particularly in the cities that we've been open in for four weeks -- New York and L.A. and Chicago and Boston and so forth -- it's held extremely well.
"It's playing very, very well. The recent markets have opened up not as proportionally strong, but very solid. So we're very pleased with how it's playing across the country."
Asked where it's heading, Gilula replied that while it's still early to say for sure, "I think that we are certainly going to get to $6-or-$7 million, but each week tells us a little more of the story. We expect to be playing through the spring."
USA Films' R rated romantic comedy Monsoon Wedding added theaters in its seventh week with a still tasteful ESTIMATED $0.72 million (-10%) at 150 theaters (+10 theaters; $4,765 per theater). Its cume is approximately $5.3 million.
Directed by Mira Nair, it was produced by Nair and Caroline Baron.