After two weeks in limited release in the U.S., Atom Egoyan's thriller Where the Truth Lies widened to 38 theaters on Oct. 28, but still failed to attract American audiences, and interest in the flick is also dissipating in Canada.

Truth only took in US$52,000, for a per-screen average of about US$1,400, over the Oct. 28 weekend in the States, where it is rated NR. Distributor ThinkFilm opted for the "not rated" label after losing a battle with the Motion Picture Association of America, which had rated it NC-17, which would have restricted it to anyone 17 and under in the U.S.

In Canada, where Truth is rated 18A in most provinces - meaning anyone younger than 18 must have adult accompaniment - the film served up $18,800 on 11 screens, about $1,700 per screen, over the Oct. 28 weekend, for a Canuck total of $600,625, according to ThinkFilm.

Its total North American cumulative was about US$753,000 as of Oct. 31. Its budget is about $30 million.

In Canada, Truth is trailing the French-language documentary Les Voleurs d'enfance, which continues to perform in Quebec, having brought in $1.6 million since its release on Oct. 7. Truth placed fifth to Les Voleurs' first for the week of Oct. 21-27. Odeon Films had said it would open the film in Toronto as early as Nov. 4, however, at press time, the distributor was waffling.

Elsewhere at the Quebec B.O., Luc Picard's Christal Films release L'Audition, about a mob thug with dreams of becoming an actor, crossed the $1-million mark, bringing in almost $52,000 over the Oct. 28 weekend, still on 32 screens. It opened on Sept. 30.

Meanwhile, David Cronenberg's U.S.-backed feature A History of Violence, released wide in North America on Sept. 30, has accumulated approximately $4.5 million in Canada, according to distributor Alliance Atlantis. In the U.S., where History is handled by New Line Cinema, the film's Oct. 28 weekend take was about US$1.3 million in 1,011 theaters, for a cumulative of US$28.5 million. Cronenberg had told Playback before his film's release that New Line would be happy with a box-office take of US$30 million.

Odeon's The River King - the Halifax-shot thriller about a murder investigation - opened in Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax on Oct. 21, and brought in a first-week box office of about $5,000 in three theaters. Over the weekend of Oct. 28, the film continued in Toronto and Halifax, bringing in another $1,150, for a cumulative $7,250, according to Odeon.

Deepa Mehta's Water, distributed by Mongrel Media, opened on seven screens in Toronto and four more in Vancouver on Nov. 4, after Playback went to press. The film, about impoverished widows in 1930s India, will expand to about 40 screens in Canada on Nov. 11.

Also on Nov. 11, ThinkFilm will unleash Clement Virgo's sex drama Lie with Me, and Odeon will release Michael Mabbott's country music mockumentary The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, a co-winner of TIFF's best first feature award.