Quebecers turned out to see Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm’s hockey biopic Maurice Richard, which had a big if not spectacular opening weekend in Quebec on Nov. 25.

Richard, directed by Charles Binamé (Séraphin: Un homme et son péché) and starring Roy Dupuis as the legendary NHL star, brought in close to $600,000 on a record-setting 150 screens for a decent three-day per-screen average of $4,000. A fine start, but certainly not the same kind of success Vivafilm saw this past summer with Aurore, which brought in $950,000 during its opening weekend. (Both films are produced by Cinémaginaire.) Perhaps many hockey fans were at home on Saturday night watching Richard’s Habs play the Leafs.

Vivafilm SVP Patrick Roy is encouraged by the film’s first weekend.

‘This is only the beginning,’ says Roy. ‘We’re really optimistic for a long run.’

Vivafilm also conducted exit polls in Montreal and Quebec City. ‘I don’t have all the results yet, but from what I’ve seen, almost everybody thinks the movie is excellent. It makes us very enthusiastic about the next few weeks and the Christmas season,’ says Roy.

There is still no official word when Maurice Richard will open in English Canada, but Roy says March is reasonable. A very large release is expected.

Meanwhile, Deepa Mehta’s Water, distributed by Mongrel Media, garnered about $160,400 over the Nov. 25 weekend, bringing its cumulative to more than $1.1 million. It joins copros White Noise and Being Julia as films from English Canada that passed $1 million in 2005.

Odeon Films’ country music mockumentary The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, a co-winner of the best Canadian first feature award at the Toronto International Film Festival, opened on Nov. 11 in four theaters (Montreal, Vancouver and two in Toronto) with a first-week total of $6,500. Its cumulative as of Nov. 28 was $12,250.

Cake, a TVA Films release from director Nisha Ganatra (Fast Food High) was to open on Dec. 2, after Playback’s press time. The romantic comedy stars Heather Graham as the new editor of a wedding magazine, causing her to reexamine her personal stance on love. Also, Christal Films’ Les Boys 4, directed by George Mihalka (Charlie Jade), will open on Dec. 9 in Quebec.