Montreal: Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm’s market share in the first three months of this year is hovering around the 40% level, partly fueled by the remarkable achievement of Charles Biname’s historical epic Seraphin: Un homme et son peche (Cite-Amerique), which had box-office receipts (minus taxes) of $7,857,944 in its sixteenth week of release.

Patrick Roy, AAV’s executive VP, says, ‘Seraphin has been a turning point for [president] Guy Gagnon and I in our careers. We’re having so much fun doing this.’

Little surprise. According to data from Alexfilms.com, Vivafilm ranked number one at the Quebec box office in ’02, releasing 87 films for a total take of $37.1 million and a 20.58% market share, the first year the distrib has topped the 20% mark.

Vivafilm’s Quebec-produced releases took in close to $10 million last year, which pushed total box-office receipts (minus taxes) for 41 Quebec movies in ’02 to over $14.8 million, or a 12.1% share of the French-language theatrical market. Quebec movies had a 9% share in ’01.

This year, the distrib will invest close to $5 million in P&A and minimum guarantees in half a dozen Quebec films, says Roy.

AAV’s two most important Quebec movies in ’03 are Denys Arcand’s Les Invasions barbares (Cinemaginaire) and Jean-Francois Pouliot’s feature debut La Grande Seduction (Max Films).

Invasions will be released May 9 on as many as 100 or more screens with over $1 million in P&A. ‘We think the Arcand film is a masterpiece,’ says Roy. Arcand’s The Decline of the American Empire earned $2.8 million at the Quebec box office when it was released 17 years ago.

Roy says La Grande Seduction is ‘a smart, touching comedy, a Quebec Full Monty,’ set in northern Quebec. ‘It’s a real jewel, a feel-good movie, and will be our big [homegrown] release this summer.’ Seduction goes out July 11 on as many as 75 screens, with close to $1 million in marketing support.

Other Quebec releases from Vivafilm, slated for the fall, include Eric Tessier’s Sur le seuil (Go Films), a $3.4-million supernatural thriller a la Stephen King’s Shining, starring Michel Cote and Patrick Huard; Pere et fils (Max Films), a coproduction with France, starring Philippe Noiret; and Jean-Vincent Fournier’s low-budget DV thriller Vendus (Cirrus Communications), ‘[it’s] something that’s edgy, fun and different,’ says Roy.

‘We’re really proud that we now have a wide variety of movie styles. We are not playing safe and we’re trying many different things,’ he says.

New movie projects

New Quebec movie projects with Vivafilm backing include the Guy A. Lepage comedy Camping Sauvage (Lyla Films), with Lepage and the talented Sylvie Moreau (Catherine) set to star; Pierre Houle’s fact-based crime drama Monica la mitraille (Cite-Amerique); the Gabriel Pelletier comedy Les Innocents (Go Films), featuring TQS comedy stars Dominique & Martin; and the Sebastien Rose sequel La Vie avec mon pere (Max Films), a social satire.

Vivafilm has also signed on Rudy Barichello’s Dans l’oeil du chat (Films Zingaro), a low-budget erotic thriller starring Roy Dupuis, Isabel Richer and Marie-Jose Croze; Francis Leclerc’s second feature Memoires affectives (Palomar), a contemporary psychological thriller also slated to star Dupuis; and the Yves Pelletier romantic comedy Les Aimants (Go Films).

-www.allianceatlantisvivafilm.com