The sound debut of director Danny Boyle’s sci-fi thriller Sunshine last week on one screen in Toronto has prompted Fox Searchlight Pictures to expand the film to 28 screens Friday, when it will play in cities including Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Vancouver and Halifax.

Sunshine, about a team of astronauts venturing to revive a dying sun, took in $23,315 on the one screen in its opening weekend.

This week, the film will also be released in Quebec markets, with six copies in French and two in English, according to Fox’s Quebec partner Groupe Popcorn.

‘People really liked the promo screening and we’ve had good reviews… there’s a big Danny Boyle fan base here in Quebec,’ says Groupe Popcorn spokesperson Louise Trottier.

There are no plans yet to expand the film in English Canada, since this week will see Sunshine play opposite the very wide release of The Simpsons Movie from Fox Searchlight’s big brother, 20th Century Fox.

‘It depends on many factors, but certainly The Simpsons opening this weekend is a big one,’ says Fox Searchlight spokesperson Maria Mannero, noting that the platform release of Sunshine is standard for the distributor. ‘We rarely open anything wide.’

Among Canadian distributors, Odeon Films is cautiously releasing the biopic Talk to Me, about radio personality Ralph Waldo ‘Petey’ Green, starring Don Cheadle, in Toronto Friday. The film will expand to Montreal and Vancouver next week before going wide on Aug. 10.

Meanwhile, Christal Films is opening France’s action comedy Taxi 4 on 47 screens in Quebec, including Montreal, Sherbrooke, Hull, Chicoutimi and Joliette. The Montreal distributor is also bringing the comedy Mon meilleur ami to English Canada following its Quebec debut last week. Mon meilleur ami will play on one screen each in Vancouver and Toronto.

Among new U.S. titles in theaters this weekend is the Lindsay Lohan thriller I Know Who Killed Me, from Columbia Pictures, and the romantic comedy No Reservations, from Warner Bros.