Christal Films says it is seeing great returns after its Quebec release of Les Boys 4 on DVD, with the title debuting at number four on the Nielsen VideoScan chart for the week ending June 11.

Christal released 75,000 units on June 6, and while its home video director Christine Saucerotte says she cannot offer firm numbers yet, she confirms that the latest installment in the franchise – this one about the titular team of misfits battling some top NHL legends – is moving well at the sales and rental counters. It finished one spot ahead of Disney’s June 6 release Glory Road on the Nielsen list. She adds, however, that sales numbers dropped during its second week. Boys fell to thirteenth on the Nielsen chart for the week ending June 18.

‘[Les Boys 4] is a blockbuster title, and they are always like that – big on the release date and then a drop – but it should be a good catalogue item,’ she says, adding that Les Boys 1-3 still sell well as a boxed set, rereleased annually before the holidays and Father’s Day. ‘Comedies always sell well [in Quebec].’

Les Boys 4 was supported by TV and print ads, and a special promotion with retailer FutureShop, which brought in stars from the film for autograph signings.

Among the bonus features on the single disc is a 44-minute documentary titled La Legende des Boys. No word yet on whether the film will be released in English Canada, theatrically or on video. Les Boys 4 took in more than $4.5 million during its winter theatrical run in Quebec, also through Christal.

Williams big in Alberta

Toronto’s Maple Pictures focused on the Alberta market for its May 30 release of comedy/drama feature Hank Williams First Nation.

According to Maple spokesperson Angie Burns, the distributor put most of its promotional muscle behind the title in Alberta – where the film was predominantly shot by Peace Country Films of Dixonville, AB – presenting special screenings and autograph signings by cast members and director Aaron James Sorensen. This is consistent with the grassroots spirit of the film, which was self-distributed by Sorensen. The film has also spawned a recently greenlit APTN series (see story p. 15).

First Nation is a drama about a native elder (Jimmy Herman) who questions the death of country music legend Hank Williams and sets out to visit the crooner’s grave. The single-disc DVD features the film’s trailer and a commentary by Sorensen as bonus materials. Maple has shipped 10,000 units in Canada thus far.

Also…

* The music special Stompin’ Tom Live in Concert was set to come out on DVD three days after its July 1 airing on CTV.

The taped-for-TV concert was the subject of controversy in May when CBC refused it, though Stompin’ Tom Connors claimed he and Pillar Media of Peterborough, ON produced the show specifically for the Ceeb, allegedly with the broadcaster’s knowledge and approval.

Filmed in Hamilton, ON, the disc includes the full concert with bonus footage, and the first cycle of DVDs are packaged with a piece of one of the musician’s famous stompin’ boards.

* Montreal’s TVA Films will release the CTV MOW Dr. Lucille: the Lucille Teasdale Story on DVD July 18, with $2 for every copy sold going to the Lucille Teasdale & Piero Corti Foundation, a not-for-profit hospital Teasdale and husband Piero Corti founded in Uganda. Directed by Georges Mihalka (Les Boys 4), the film chronicles Dr. Teasdale’s life, including her 30 years spent in Africa, where she contracted HIV from a patient. *