Alliance Atlantis is banking on counter-programming and Michael Moore’s popularity in Canada as it releases the controversial docmaker’s latest, Sicko, on 55 screens across the country on Friday.

It’s a wide release for a documentary, notes Alliance VP of theatrical sales Rob McKenzie.

‘We’re feeling very good about it…Michael Moore performs exceptionally well in Canada, and we always do a really good percentage compared to the U.S. in Canada on his films,’ he says, adding that they may expand next week depending on the weekend’s numbers.

Sicko, about the state of the U.S. healthcare system, opens in cities including Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Kingston and Saint John. The film had its Canadian premiere in London, ON earlier this month, where some of its scenes were filmed.

Alliance’s marketing department launched a strong advertising campaign for Sicko, with extensive print coverage, grassroots promotion, posters in transit shelters, TV spots and word-of-mouth screenings.

‘We were very vested in the campaign. Even though Michael Moore has a name and reputation in Canada, we really went out in full force in media,’ says Alliance Atlantis SVP of marketing Frank Mendicino.

On their expectations for Sicko, McKenzie believes the film will perform more in line with Bowling for Columbine. ‘I don’t think it will do as well as Fahrenheit 911…it was a real phenomenon,’ he adds.

Meanwhile, the distributor’s Quebec counterpart Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm is going very wide in the province with director Alain Desrochers’ action film Nitro, ordering 124 prints, including 12 with English subtitles.

‘It’s a huge release. We’re everywhere,’ says AAV president Patrick Roy, adding he’s confident the domestic French-language film will beat Twentieth Century Fox’s Live Free or Die Hard in Quebec.

Marketing for Nitro included posters and billboards across all major cities, TV spots, and a promotional tour featuring the director, writers and cast. ‘We’ve been able to create a demand for the film. The buzz is really strong and most of the critics have been [positive],’ Roy says.

Other titles opening this weekend include the Odeon Films drama Evening, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Meryl Streep, and the Disney animation Ratatouille, handled here by Buena Vista Pictures.