Quebec-made films continue to dominate the homegrown box office, as the French-language thriller Ma fille, mon ange and the comedy Nos voisins Dhantsu again held claim to the number one and two spots for the frame ending March 8.
Ma fille, from rookie director Alexis Durand-Brault, added another $422,531 last week, and easily cruised to more than $2 million in total box-office earnings in its third week in theaters via Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm.
The Christal Films comedy Nos voisins Dhantsu, about the adventures of two Quebec standups in Japan, held steady at number two, ringing up nearly $300,000 in total receipts, for $524,093 in total box-office earnings.
Rounding out the top five for the week were Philippe Falardeau’s Congorama with a box office take of $39,286, the historical romance Partition with $11,985 and the documentary Chez Schwartz, about the famous Montreal deli, which debuted at number five with $6,463 on one screen. The film is distributed by its prodco, Les Productions du Boulevard, while Film Option International handles worldwide sales.
Meanwhile, Trailer Park Boys The Movie is proving to be a smash on DVD, as Canada’s favorite foul-mouthed trio landed at number two on the Nielsen VideoScan chart for the week ending Feb. 25.
‘It’s phenomenal but it’s not surprising, as [Trailer Park Boys] has been a monster as it is,’ SVP of Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment Noah Segal tells Playback Daily, adding that Alliance has also had a profitable history with the TV series going out on DVD. ‘It’s been a huge success every year consistently,’ he says.
The DVD hit stores Feb. 20 loaded with extras, including a music video, alternate takes, lost interviews and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie.
Segal says the movie has sold equally across the country, with no region standing out as a hotspot. ‘As of day 13, we were 70% sold through at Wal-Mart, which is extremely high, and we were also 83% sold through at Rogers and Blockbuster,’ he says. ‘We’re already sold out of our initial ship[ment] and are on to replenishment.’
The seventh season of Trailer Park Boys debuts on Showcase April 8 at 9 p.m.