SNEAK PREVIEWS

There were no national sneak previews this weekend.

EXPANSIONS

On the expansion front, this weekend saw Fox Searchlight's R rated critically acclaimed British crime thriller Sexy Beast continue to widen in its sixth week, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $0.39 million (-22%) at 189 theaters (+10 theaters; $2,075 per theater). Its cume is approximately $4.5 million.

Directed by Jonathan Glazer, it stars Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley.

"I think we're going to end up with probably around $5.5-$6.0 million," Fox Searchlight distribution president Steven Gilula said Sunday morning. "We'll be real pleased with that. Right now, we're the third strongest limited release for the year after Memento and Amores Perros. I think we'll get past Amores Perros and be number two. And then it's a question of all these new (specialized) films and which ones will expand out and be able to penetrate the market. There's a lot of independent product opening now."

Miramax's R rated French comedy The Closet went wider in its fourth week with a still promising ESTIMATED $0.34 million (+8%) at 65 theaters (+22 theaters; $5,153 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.3 million.

Directed by Francis Veber, it stars Daniel Auteuil, Gerard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte and Michele Laroque.

Artisan's R rated comedy Made expanded in its second week with an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.27 million at 19 theaters (+16 theaters; $13,947 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.5 million.

Written and directed by Jon Favreau, it stars Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Sean Combs, Famke Janssen, Faizon Love and Peter Falk.

Fine Line Features' R rated comedy The Anniversary Party went wider in its seventh week with a quiet ESTIMATED $0.17 million (-36%) at 120 theaters (+2 theaters; $1,405 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.3 million.

Written/directed by and starring Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, its ensemble cast includes Jane Adams, Phoebe Cates, Kevin Kline, , Gwyneth Paltrow, Parker Posey and John C Reilly.

Lions Gate Films' PG-13 rated drama Songcatcher continued to widen in its sixth week with a weak ESTIMATED $0.16 million (-15%) at 91 theaters (+19 theaters; $1,800 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.2 million.

Directed by Maggie Greenwald, it stars Janet McTeer and Aidan Quinn.

Lions Gate Films' unrated erotic drama Lost and Delirious widened in its third week with a slow ESTIMATED $0.037 million at 18 theaters (+10 theaters; $2,050 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.14 million.

Directed by Lea Pool, it stars Piper Perabo.

Miramax's R rated comedy Everybody's Famous added a theater in its third week with a dull ESTIMATED $0.01 million at 11 theaters (+1 theater; $918 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.075 million.

Written and directed by Dominique Deruddere, it stars Josse De Pauw.

WEEKEND COMPARISONS

Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $139.68 million, up about 5.37% from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $132.55 million.

This weekend's key film gross was up about 19.6% from last weekend this year when key films took in $116.78 million.

Last year, DreamWorks' opening week of What Lies Beneath was first with $29.70 million at 2,813 theaters ($10,559 per theater); and Fox's second week of X-Men was second with $23.47 million at 3,112 theaters ($7,541 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $53.2 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $81.3 million.

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