Montreal: The Allegro Films sci-fi thriller Screamers is set for a simultaneous North American launch on 1,500 screens on Jan. 26. The marketing budget for the film’s worldwide release is estimated to be over $10 million.

Directed by Montrealer Christian Duguay and produced in association with Fuji Eight and Fries Film, the $13 million feature is distributed by Triumph Films stateside and in certain international territories and by Allegro Films Distribution in Canada.

Gary Shapiro, head of worldwide marketing at Triumph, a Sony Pictures Entertainment company based in Culver City, California, says the ad campaign created by Columbia TriStar Marketing and Triumph includes extensive radio play, large print displays, and u.s. and Canadian tv buys including ntv, The Sci-Fi Channel and espn. The tv campaign broke Jan. 1 during the Rose and Fiesta Bowls and reappeared on abc during the telecast of Terminator 2.

‘There was a time when marketing budgets were tied to a production budget, but no more,’ says Shapiro. ‘All releases have to be marketed in a competitive way today.’

Screamers is set on a distant mining planet in the year 2078 when scientists have developed a self-replicating, killing device known as screamers. The film stars Peter Weller, Jennifer Rubin, Andy Lauer and Quebec actor Roy Dupuis and features first-rate animation special f/x by Montreal’s Buzz Image Group.

Andre Paquette, executive vp at afd, says some 100 English and French-track prints are being released in Canada backed by extensive tv buys in both markets including a cross-promotion campaign with Television Quatre Saisons.

afd expects the film’s domestic theatrical gross to be over $1 million with hopes for triple that amount. ‘It should do as well as Johnny Mnemonic. The f/x may not be as spectacular, but it’s a lot better story,’ says Paquette. Alliance’s Johnny Mnemonic grossed $3 million in Canada.

As a result of the experience on Screamers, Shapiro says Triumph president Gary Sanders is totally committed to Allegro’s next feature, Jackals, a $22 million political thriller from producer Tom Berry and director Duguay slated to shoot next month. LRB