SNEAK PREVIEWS
This weekend saw DreamWorks hold 400 sneak previews Saturday night of its PG-13 rated horror thriller The Ring.
Directed by Gore Verbinski, it stars Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson and Brian Cox.
"From a capacity standpoint, the average was about 70 percent overall with about 10 percent of them selling out," DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp said Sunday morning.
"It was 58 percent male and 42 percent female, fairly evenly split under and over 25. In the definite recommend area, it was above average for everyone and substantially above average for the under-25 group."
Ring opens wide this Friday (Oct. 18) at 1,800 to 2,000 theaters.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend Buena Vista/ Disney's PG rated animated feature Spirited Away went wider in its fourth week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.6 million (+2%) at 138 theaters (+41 theaters; $4,517 per theater). Its cume is approximately $2.7 million.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, it was the Golden Bear best picture winner at the Berlin International Film Festival. Spirited is the all-time top grossing film at the Japanese box office.
Lions Gate Films' R rated kinky romance Secretary expanded in its fourth week with an appealing ESTIMATED $0.45 million (+13%) at 149 theaters (+43 theaters; $3,020 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.8 million.
Directed by Steven Shainberg, it stars James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
United Artists' R rated dark comedy Igby Goes Down widened in its fourth week, holding well with an ESTIMATED $0.45 million (-8%) at 155 theaters (+8 theaters; $2,889 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.3 million.
Written and directed by Burr Steers, it stars Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Jared Harris, Amanda Peet, Ryan Phillippe, Bill Pullman and Susan Sarandon.
Focus Features' R rated French comedic whodunit 8 Women expanded in its fourth week, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $0.3 million (-15%) at 85 theaters (+3 theaters; $3,505 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.7 million.
Directed by Francois Ozon, it stars Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen, Danielle Darrieux, Ludivine Sagnier and Firmine Richard.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $100.25 million for the weekend, up about 25.52 percent from last year when they totaled $79.87 million.
Key films were down about 4.1 percent from the previous weekend this year when they totaled $104.54 million.
Last year, Warner Bros.' second week of Training Day was first with $13.39 million at 2,712 theaters ($4,936 per theater); and MGM's opening week of Bandits was second with $13.05 million at 3,207 theaters ($4,069 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $26.5 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $31.7 million.