["American Beauty,"] the satirical movie about family angst in the suburbs posted $727,554 in North American ticket sales Monday, more than double its $313,542 gross from last Monday in the same number of theaters, according to figures the studio released Tuesday.

DreamWorks now plans to expand the film from its current run in about 1,660 theaters to more than 2,000 movie houses for the week starting Friday, said Jim Tharp, the head of distribution for DreamWorks.

The film, produced on a modest budget of about $15 million, has grossed $109.2 million domestically since its release last September, and has raked in an additional $136 million overseas, Tharp said.

For the March 24-26 weekend, just before picking up five awards at the Oscars, the movie ranked No. 7 at the domestic box office.

``The movie, without the awards, continued to hold and play very well,'' he said. ``But with the awards, we expect it to continue playing at least another five weeks.''

``American Beauty,'' the first DreamWorks film to win the Academy Award for best picture, is the latest example of the box-office ``bounce'' enjoyed by Oscar-winning movies that are still in theaters.

In addition to best picture, the film earned Kevin Spacey an Oscar for his role as a father mired in mid-life crisis, as well as Oscars for best director (Sam Mendes), best original screenplay (Alan Ball) and for its cinematography.

Two other films that figured prominently at the Oscars, ''The Cider House Rules'' and ``Boys Don't Cry,'' also saw bumps in their ticket sales.

``Cider House'' grossed about $309,000 on Monday, up $80,000 from the week before, according to DreamWorks rival Miramax Films, owned by the Walt Disney Co. Ticket sales for ``Boys'' roughly doubled, from about $64,000 to $136,000, according to Fox Searchlight, the arthouse film distributor for 20th Century Fox.

Veteran British actor Michael Caine won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role as the ether-sniffing doctor who runs a New England orphanage in ``Cider House.'' Newcomer Hilary Swank was named best supporting actress for her gender-bending portrayal of a woman who feels trapped in a man's body in ``Boys Don't Cry.''

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Scott A. Magie

I don't hold out much hope for it though as it didn't do too much then either.