Popular Quebec thesp Patrick Huard is proving that he can draw a crowd no matter what hat he wears on a film. His feature directorial debut, the comedy Les 3 P’tits Cochons (Three Little Pigs), has pulled in $1.6 million in la belle province since opening on Aug. 10 via Christal Films.

‘The guy is like Wayne Gretzky… everything he touches turns to gold,’ says Christal producer and president Christian Larouche.

Cochons, which marks Bon Cop, Bad Cop star Huard’s helming debut, crossed the $1-million mark late last week, and added nearly $510,000 over the Aug. 17 weekend on 98 screens, nearly matching its opening weekend numbers of $525,000.

Larouche, who produces with Pierre Gendron of Montreal’s Zoofilms, tells Playback Daily his initial expectations were a little higher for the opening, but Cochons‘ performance is now up to par.

‘The word of mouth is good, and we have no competition against us next week, so we hope it will continue to go strong,’ he adds.

The comedy about the infidelities of three brothers stars Claude Legault, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge and Paul Doucet. It shot in Montreal last summer on a budget of $4.2 million.

Larouche says that following the monster success of Bon Cop — which became the most successful Canadian film ever at the domestic box office last year, grossing more than $12 million — there was pressure on Huard to deliver again.

‘We asked him to direct before his huge success with Bon Cop… People had very high expectations,’ he says, adding that Christal had to be careful with its marketing strategy so that it could capitalize on Huard’s popularity while making it clear to audiences that he doesn’t actually appear in the film.

Cochons will be shopped in the European market ‘very soon,’ says Larouche, who is eyeing territories including France, Spain and Italy.

‘The subject is very universal,’ he says, adding that a sequel could be in the works.

There are no plans as of yet to open in English Canada.