Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed, the gruesome werewolf sequel with an oddly feminist edge, opened with a bloody splash in 53 Canadian theaters on Jan. 30. By the end of its first week on Feb. 5, it was the top Canadian film at the domestic box office, with a total take of $127,468 and a per-theater average of $2,405.

The sequel, directed by Brett Sullivan and distributed by Seville Pictures, continues the saga of werewolf-magnet Brigitte (Emily Perkins), who receives frequent visits from the ghost of her late sister, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle).

La Grand seduction continued its 30-week romp at the box office in second place among Canadian films for the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, taking in $109,425 in 28 theaters for a per-theater average of $3,908. The comic tale of townsfolk trying to lure a doctor to live in their village, directed by Jean-Francois Pouliot and distributed by Alliance Atlantis, opened July 11, 2003 and has taken in a tidy $7.9 million at the Canadian box office.

Peter Jackson’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has reaped an astonishing cumulative box office of more than $50 million in Canada since opening on Dec. 17, 2003. In its eighth week, the film had a per-theater average of $6,040, grossing almost $1.2 million at 191 Canadian theaters, which put it just behind U.S. films The Butterfly Effect and Along Came Polly.

At the end of its second week of release, The Butterfly Effect, distributed by Alliance Atlantis, was the number-one U.S. film in Canada, taking in $8.6 million in 232 domestic theaters, followed by Along Came Polly, which grossed $1.3 million in 235 Canadian theaters in its third week.

In third place among Canadian films was animated feature The Triplets of Belleville, a Canada/ Belgium/France copro distributed by Alliance Atlantis. In its seventh week, the film earned $102,999 in 12 Canadian theaters for a per-theater average of $8,583. By Feb. 5, it had reaped a total of $458,624 at the domestic box office.

The gloom-and-doom documentary The Corporation, directed by Jennifer Abbott and Mark Achbar, was the fourth most-popular Canadian film in its third week, bringing in $95,597 in six theaters for a per-theater average of $15,933. Its premiere weekend in Toronto at the Bloor Cinema was marred when plaster fell from the ceiling and the theater was forced to close temporarily. The Corporation, distributed by Mongrel Media, has grossed $292,670 at the box office since opening Jan. 16.

Released Jan. 23, Je n’aime que toi, directed by Claude Fournier and distributed by Christal Films, had a box-office total of $47,563. The romance about a writer with a prostitute as muse, made $16,720 in its second week in 17 theaters, for a per-theater average of $984.

The Barbarian Invasions was rereleased in French Canada on Jan. 30, three days after it received two Oscar nominations. The Globe and Mail reported the film’s distribution will be expanded by Miramax in the U.S. and Odeon in English Canada. The film has grossed $6.5 million at the domestic box office since it celebrated separate French- and English-Canadian premieres on May 9 and Nov. 21, 2003 respectively. For the week ended Feb. 5, Barbarians made $73,075 at the box office in French Canada in 43 theaters, for a per-theater average of $1,699. In English Canada during the same week, it grossed $9,773 in seven theaters, for a per-theater average of $1,396.