Despite disappointing numbers, Lionsgate is pushing ahead with plans to expand Fido into another four U.S. markets in hope that the Canadian-made zombie comedy will better connect with San Franciscans, among others, than it has with New Yorkers.

The Andrew Currie-directed comedy opened on one screen each in New York and L.A. on June 15, but has made only US$15,000 -- much better than the dismal $2,300 per-screen average it earned at home earlier this year for TVA Films, but still below expectations according to a source at its Stateside distributor, Lionsgate. Numbers for Fido's second week were unavailable at press time.

The source, who spoke to Playback Daily on condition of anonymity, says Fido will expand to San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and San Diego on July 6, again on one screen each. Lionsgate will decide how to proceed based on the response in those markets.

Fido opened at the upscale Angelika Film Center in Manhattan and the Nuart in L.A. and has met with generally positive reviews -- "madly funny" according to New York Magazine and "a crafty mixture of George Romero and Douglas Sirk" says the Los Angeles Times.

The source at Lionsgate blames the poor numbers on the limited appeal of the oddball movie, which stars Scottish comic Billy Connolly as a domesticated zombie in the service of a 1950s family.