Richard Goudreau’s Nouvelle France, a $35-million Canada/France/U.K. coproduction that was supposed to be the successful Quebec producer’s biggest hit yet, may not have performed up to expectations at the home box office, but it still has the rest of the world to go.

As of Jan. 20, Nouvelle France had grossed just over $2.1 million at the Quebec box office.

‘Everyone is very surprised and it does hurt me. I expected it to do as well as Les Boys,’ says Goudreau, referring to his 1997/98 hit, which grossed $6.1 million at the Quebec box office.

The historic epic, directed by Jean Beaudin (Le Collectionneur), opened in Quebec Nov. 19 at 80 theaters, grossing $844,000 in its first week. It remained the top-grossing homegrown film in the country until Dec. 17. It broke the $2-million mark after seven weeks, but by then things had started to slow down. Between Dec. 31 and Jan. 14, the film was playing at 25 theaters and pulled in just under $54,000.

By comparison, Les Boys II and III each brought in more than $5 million. In all, the Les Boys franchise has grossed $17 million.

Goudreau says he suspects several bad reviews of Nouvelle France from Quebec critics are to blame for the lower-than-expected box-office take.

Although Goudreau is disappointed that more people aren’t going to see the film at home, he says he has personally heard more positive feedback from audiences than for any other film he’s worked on and remains optimistic about international sales.

‘We made this movie for the whole world and are getting great reactions from [buyers in] other countries, so I have great hopes.’

Although Nouvelle France, shot in both English and French, has only opened in Quebec, it has been presold to 15 territories including Spain and will open wide in France in May. And with the English version delivered Jan. 31, international distributor Lions Gate Films, which has worldwide rights excluding Canada, France and the U.K., is gearing up to take the film to additional major international markets, including Germany, Japan and the U.S.

Stars include Gérard Depardieu, Tim Roth and Colm Meaney, so Goudreau has high hopes for the film’s U.S. run.

‘The U.S. could be a huge market for us,’ says Goudreau, explaining that he always expected most of the film’s box office would be generated outside of Canada. ‘If we make something like $10 million in foreign sales, I would be very happy.’

Goudreau says he agrees with Canada-wide distributor Christal Film’s decision to hold off on the English Canada release of the film until its U.S. premiere dates have been set. ‘It’s always better to open with the U.S.,’ he says.

Despite his disappointment over Nouvelle France’s showing in Quebec, Goudreau is not discouraged. He has several major projects in the works at his Montreal-based Melenny Productions, including Les Boys IV and a remake of Les Boys for the U.S. market. Goudreau is also working on an additional three big-budget international projects, which he says are still too early to discuss. However, he does say that one is a Moulin Rouge-style musical that will feature major stars.