Code Black Entertainment’s Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day hit the ground running among specialty releases, averaging a solid $6,376 in 102 locations, managing a higher per theater average than any other movie among the top 15 grossers. Outside the top 15 but not far behind it in per-theater business, Music Box’s Monsieur Lazhar averaged $6,310 in 19 sites. Loosed and Lazhar generated some sparks in the overall North American box office which is down 11% from the comparable weekend last year. Roadside Attractions debuted Blue Like Jazz in 136 locations, taking in nearly $270K, with a less impressive $1,963 average, while Anchor Bay bowed Touchback in 50 theaters, averaging $1,500. And Variance Films opened Hole documentary Hit So Hard at one location in New York City over the weekend, which even brought out a “reunion” of the band fronted by Courtney Love at a party for the film. The doc took in $6,500.

Among second-weekend holdovers, Sony Classics’ Damsels In Distress, averaged $4,229 in 18 additional theaters from its debut, vs. the feature’s $16,050 in 4 theaters Easter weekend. Sundance Selects added a dozen locations for its Cannes ’11 feature We Have A Pope, averaging $3,600 (versus an average $10,133 in three theaters last weekend). The distributor’s other foreign-language release, The Kid With A Bike continued its rollout with 16 additional theaters in its fifth weekend out. The Cannes ’11 prize-winner is now the Dardennes Brothers’ highest grossing film in North America. After securing the movie’s PG-13 version, The Weinstein Company propelled Bully into 158 theaters (compared to Easter weekend’s 6) in its third weekend of release. The doc took in more than half a million, averaging nearly $3,400.

1: Blue Like Jazz (Roadside Attractions) NEW [136 Theaters] Weekend $267K, Per Theater Average $1,963

2: Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day (Code Black Entertainment) NEW [102 Theaters] Weekend $650K, Average $6,376

3: Monsieur Lazhar (Music Box Films) NEW RUN [19 Theaters] Weekend $120K, Average $6,310, Multiple-Run Cume, $1.8M

4. Touchback (Anchor Bay Films) NEW [50 Theaters]
Weekend $75K, Average $1,500

5: Hit So Hard (Variance Films) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $6,500

6: Life Happens (PMK/BNC) NEW [16 Theaters] Weekend $21,900, Average $1,369

7. Damsels In Distress (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [22 Theaters]
 Weekend $93K, Average $4,229, Cume $178K

8. We Have A Pope (Sundance Selects) Week 2 [15 Theaters]
 Weekend $54K, Average $3,600, Cume $104K

9. Bully (The Weinstein Company) Week 3 [158 Theaters]
 Weekend $534K, Average $3,380, Cume $813K

10. October Baby (IDP/Samuel Goldwyn) Week 4 [362 Theaters]
 Weekend $524K, Average $1,449, Cume $4.5M

11. The Raid: Redemption (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 4 [881 Theaters]
 Weekend $1M, Average $1,139, Cume $2.56M

12. Jeff Who Lives At Home (Paramount Vantage) Week 5 [183 Theaters]
 Weekend $215K, Average $1,175, Cume $3.82M

13. Casa De Mi Padre (Lionsgate) Week 5 [121 Theaters]
 Weekend $92.5K, Average $764, Cume $5.7M

14. The Kid With A Bike (Sundance Selects) Week 5 [70 Theaters]
 Weekend $175K, Average $2,500, Cume $765K

15. Footnote (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 6 [84 Theaters]
 Weekend $210K, Average $2,505, Cume $1.11M

16. Friends With Kids (Roadside Attractions) Week 6 [112 Theaters]
 Weekend $144K, Average $1,286, Cume $6.98M

17. Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (CBS Films) Week 6 [435 Theaters]
 Weekend $911K, Average $2,094, Cume $6.08M

18. Boy (Paladin) Week 7 [18 Theaters]
 Weekend $22K, Average $1,248, Cume $175K

19. Undefeated (The Weinstein Company) Week 9 [17 Theaters]
 Weekend $17K, Average $1,000, Cume $487K

20. Rampart (Millennium Entertainment) Week 10 [21 Theaters]
 Weekend $10K, Average $486, Cume $900K

21. W.E. (The Weinstein Company) Week 11 [17 Theaters]
 Weekend $13K, Average $765, Cume $544K

22. Coriolanus (The Weinstein Company) Week 13 [18 Theaters]
 Weekend $19K, Average $1,056, Cume $664K

23. The Iron Lady (The Weinstein Company) Week 16 [146 Theaters]
 Weekend $101K, Average $692, Cume $29.84M

24. A Separation (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 16 [91 Theaters]
 Weekend $93K, Average $1,025, Cume $6.85M

25. The Artist (The Weinstein Company) Week 21 [121 Theaters]
 Weekend $104K, Average $860, Cume $44.05M

For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...