That's not bad considering XXX and Signs are still pounding in there. In commercial houses we were very, very well attended. And in the upscale and art houses around the country we were ranking in the number one and two positions.

"So we're really happy with this opening. It puts us in a position to think that we can persist very nicely through the upcoming weeks and months and serve a demo out there that really isn't being served aggressively at this stage of the game outside of what Greek Wedding is doing. A lot of those people have seen Greek Wedding, so we can easily fill that slot for an alternative kind of programming picture."

Looking ahead, Foley explained, "Next week we're going to expand the top 17 markets a bit that we're in right now. Then on Labor Day we'll go wide with the picture. I'm very, very happy that the country embraced the film."

Paramount Classics' PG rated German romantic comedy Mostly Martha opened to a hopeful ESTIMATED $41,000 at 2 theaters ($20,445 per theater).

Written and directed by Sandra Nettelbeck, it stars Martina Gedeck.

SNEAK PREVIEWS

There were no national sneak previews this weekend.

EXPANSIONS

On the expansion front this weekend Fox Searchlight Pictures' R rated comedy The Good Girl went wider in its second week with a still impressive ESTIMATED $0.83 million at 60 theaters (+56 theaters; $13,800 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.1 million.

Directed by Miguel Arteta, it stars Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly.

"We had a very, very good expansion," Fox Searchlight distribution president Stephen Gilula said Sunday morning.

"We added 56 theaters in an additional 18 cities (for a total of) 20 cities across the country. It's terrific. The regional cities have supported the film extremely well.

"The four holdover theaters held extremely well even though we added quite a few theaters in Manhattan and L.A. We picked up very good momentum. The regional reviews were very, very strong around the country. So we're quite optimistic about the next wave of our expansion."

This Friday, Gilula said, "We'll open up in 29 more cities and expand further into 50 cities. So we should be on Friday, Aug. 23 in approximately 175 theaters. The following week, which is Labor Day weekend, we'll expand nationally to 500 or more theaters."

Miramax's PG-13 romantic comedy Tadpole expanded in its fifth week to a slow ESTIMATED $0.31 million at 151 theaters (+59 theaters; $2,019 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.5 million.

Directed by Gary Winick, it stars Sigourney Weaver, John Ritter, Bebe Neuwirth and Aaron Stanford.

Focus Features' R rated The Kid Stays in the Picture, the "unbelievable true tale of Robert Evans," continued to widen in its fourth week, holding well with an ESTIMATED $0.18 million at 56 theaters (+11 theaters; $3,257 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.8 million.

Produced and directed by Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein and produced by Graydon Carter, Kid is based on the book by Robert Evans.

"It's very steady and very solid in the previously expanded markets," Focus Features' Jack Foley said. "It didn't experience much of a drop in them, particularly in New York and L.A., where it's really got a great foothold."

United Artists' R rated comedy 24 Hour Party People, released through MGM, expanded in its second week to a still happy ESTIMATED $0.16 million at 18 theaters (+16 theaters; $8,674 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.2 million.

Directed by Michael Winterbottom, it stars Steve Coogan.

WEEKEND COMPARISONS

Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $106.84 million, down 3.19 percent from last year when they totaled $110.37 million.

Key films were down about 21.71 percent from the previous weekend of this year when they grossed $136.44 million.

Last year, Universal's second week of American Pie 2 was first with $21.1 million at 3,072 theaters ($6,870 per theater); and New Line's third week of Rush Hour 2 was second with $19.02 million at 3,080 theaters ($6,177 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $40.1 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $42.5 million.