It took another Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm offering, Horloge Biologique, to unseat Aurore as the current top-grossing domestic movie in Canada, bringing in $511,372 on 87 Quebec screens, an average of about $5,900 per screen, in its debut weekend starting Aug. 5.

Horloge, about a group of 30-somethings weighing single life versus parenthood, even outdrew the heavily hyped opening weekend of The Dukes of Hazzard. According to Vivafilm, there are no expansion plans in Quebec at this time. It will make its English Canada debut after it’s screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, but a firm release date has not been set.

Aurore and the TVA release C.R.A.Z.Y. both have a realistic chance of making $5 million. Aurore has been circulating in theaters for five weeks and brought in another $118,500 over the Aug. 5 weekend, about $1,800 per screen, for a cumulative $4,327,200. It is still playing on 67 screens, although the film’s per screen average is dropping fast, down from $6,900 at the end of July.

C.R.A.Z.Y. has been screening since May 27 and brought in $61,046 on 39 screens over Aug. 5 weekend, for an average of $1,565 per theater, with a cumulative $4,586,820 as of Aug. 8. The race to $5 million between Aurore and C.R.A.Z.Y. will be tight. Last year, the only Canadian-made film to clear the $5 million hurdle was the horror sequel, Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Stay tuned.

The Odeon family feature Bailey’s Billion$, about the canine CEO of an animal rights outfit, opened Aug. 5 with $10,323 in 15 theatres in Toronto, a dismal average of just $690. Odeon says there are no plans for Canadian expansion at this time. Numbers from its release in the U.S. were not available at press time. On July 29, the animated Pinocchio 3000 opened in 45 Quebec theaters, drawing $102,830 its first weekend, about $2,300 per screen. It has been screening in Europe for the better part of a year now.

Atom Egoyan and David Cronenberg have Canadian release dates confirmed for their latest films, both of which will receive special presentations at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. Cronenberg’s A History of Violence is scheduled for limited release in Canada and the U.S. by distributor New Line Cinema on Sept. 23 before going wide on Sept. 30, and Toronto-based ThinkFilm will release Egoyan’s thriller Where the Truth Lies in Canada and U.S. on Oct. 7. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will handle the latter’s video distribution in the U.S. following the theater run. *