Alliance Atlantis is confident that Hairspray — the latest big-screen adaptation of a Broadway show, itself reworked from the 1988 John Waters movie — will strike a chord much like musical hits such as Chicago or Moulin Rouge when the Toronto-shot film opens wide across Canada on Friday.

Alliance VP of theatrical sales Rob McKenzie acknowledges that it’s tough bringing musicals to the screen, noting that audiences will accept mediocrity in comedies and action flicks, but not generally in musical films.

‘You always hear people say that musicals don’t work anymore…but if they’re done right, like Chicago and Grease, they make a lot of money,’ McKenzie tells Playback Daily.

The fact that Hairspray, distributed by New Line in the U.S., was shot in Toronto may or may not help garner more audiences, he says.

‘People are always a bit more excited to see a film that was shot in their city…that was certainly true in the case of Winnipeg with Shall We Dance? , or London, ON with Sicko. Our grosses in those cities were really good,’ McKenzie says. ‘But Torontonians are generally not quite as excited about it because there are many films shot here.’

Also in theaters, actor/director Steve Buscemi’s drama Interview marks the first Canadian theatrical release of Toronto-based Peace Arch Entertainment. The film, about a political journalist forced to interview a soap star, will begin its run in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

‘We’ll see how it does, but our expectations are modest,’ says Peace Arch president John Flock.

In Quebec, Christal Films is releasing France’s Mon meilleur ami on nine screens, including one with English subtitles in Montreal. The comedy, from veteran director Patrice Leconte (Confidences trop intimes), will expand to one screen each in Vancouver and Toronto next week. Meanwhile, Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm’s comedy Ma tante Aline arrives with a big push on 70 screens across Quebec.

Hairspray will face competition from the Universal comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, starring Adam Sandler, which also opens wide on Friday, and the Fox Searchlight sci-fi Sunshine, which opens in Toronto before going wide on July 27.