Tom Tykwer's Perfume did strong business on itsopening weekend in Spain, landing in second position at the box officetrailing only Casino Royale.

Perfume'sper-screen average of $7,047 (Euros 5,355) was just shy that of the new Bondfilm, $7834 (Euros 5,953), according to figures from Nielsen/EDI.

According to distributorFilmax, also a co-producer on the film, Perfume'sper-screen average exceeded Bond's by Monday. Perfume opened on 306 screensversus Casino Royal's 500.

"We went for a wide releasebut focused the marketing on this being a quality, concept film based on abest-selling novel," said Filmax head of marketing Carlos Rojano. The companyworked hand-in-hand with the local editors of the novel to bring it back out instorefronts and displays in some of Spain's biggest bookstore chains.

Rojano added that as aco-producer, Filmax has been working on creating awareness of the film in themedia since its shoot, which took place partially in Barcelona. Lead actors Ben Whishaw and Richael Hurd-Woodaccompanied director Tykwer to Barcelona last week for the glittery local premiere and mediapresentation.

Casino Royale, meanwhile, marked the strongest opening weekend ever in Spain for a Bond film, according to Sony PicturesReleasing Espana. It earned $3.9m (Euros 2.97m) compared with previous Bondrecord-holder Die AnotherDay's $3.54m (Euros 2.69m) in 2002.