OTHER OPENINGS

This weekend also saw the arrival of Dimension Films' R rated sci-fi thriller Equilibrium to a soft ESTIMATED $0.53 million at 301 theaters ($1,754 per theater).

Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, it stars Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs and Angus MacFadyen.

Columbia and Intermedia Films' R rated unconventional comedy Adaptation kicked off to a spectacular ESTIMATED $0.4 million at 7 theaters ($57,143 per theater) -- three in New York, three in Los Angeles and one in Toronto.

Directed by Spike Jonze, it stars Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.

"It's terrific," Columbia distribution president Rory Bruer said Sunday morning. "The reviews are so good. We had near sell-out business everywhere. The Grove (multiplex in L.A.) was wild this weekend. Just jam-packed -- not a seat to be had. And they really seemed to like the picture a lot."

Looking ahead, Bruer said, "On Dec. 20 we'll broaden to some of the top cities, probably somewhere around 100 locations and then broaden some more on Jan. 10 to around 600 (theaters).

SNEAK PREVIEWS

Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures held about 875 well attended sneak previews Saturday of their PG-13 rated romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan.

Directed by Wayne Wang, Maid stars Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes.

"We had these great sneaks," Columbia's Rory Bruer said. "We had 875 theaters, so it was about double of what we had last week (for Friday's sneaks). They were 95 percent full. Many were sold out. It just seems to be such a terrific romantic comedy for the season. It feels really good. It opens Friday (Dec. 13) at around 2,600 theaters."

Touchstone Pictures held sneak previews Friday night of its PG-13 rated comedy The Hot Chick. No details were available from Disney Sunday morning.

Directed by Tom Brady, it stars Rob Schneider.

Chick opens wide this Friday (Dec. 13).

EXPANSIONS

On the expansion front this weekend Samuel Goldwyn Films' R rated drama El Crimen del Padre Amaro went wider in is fourth week to a still hopeful ESTIMATED $0.4 million at 122 theaters (+14 theaters; $3,230 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.1 million.

Directed by Carlos Carrera, it stars Gael Garcia Bernal and is the official Mexican entry in this year's best foreign language film Oscar race.

Miramax's R rated drama Ararat widened in its fourth week with a dull ESTIMATED $0.14 million at 42 theaters (+9 theaters; $3,405 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.2 million.

Written and directed by Atom Egoyan, it stars David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Brent Carver and Marie-Josee Croze.

United Artists' R rated drama Personal Velocity, released via MGM, added theaters in its third week with a still encouraging ESTIMATED $92,000 at 20 theaters (+15 theaters; $4,595 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.2 million.

Directed by Rebecca Miller, it stars Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and Fairuza Balk. Velocity won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

WEEKEND COMPARISONS

Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $77.4 million this weekend, down about 5.83 percent from last year when they totaled $82.19 million.

Comparisons to last weekend of this year are not valid because last weekend was a holiday weekend.

Last year, Warner Bros.' opening week of Ocean's Eleven was first with $38.11 million at 3,075 theaters ($12,393 per theater); and Warner Bros.' fourth week of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was second with $14.74 million at 3,672 theaters ($4,014 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $52.8 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $24.3 million.