Denys Arcand is set to take Quebec by storm yet again, as L’Âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness), his long-awaited follow-up to 2004’s Academy Award-winning Les invasions barbares, debuts on 83 screens Friday through distributor Alliance Vivafilm.

‘It’s big to say the least,’ AV president Patrick Roy tells Playback Daily, adding that amid the busy holiday season, the distrib is ‘really happy’ with the number of prints it has.

The dark comedy, which played to mixed reviews at Cannes and Toronto, is Canada’s selection for best foreign-language film at the upcoming Academy Awards, which will name five nominees next month. It stars Marc Labrèche as a disenchanted civil servant looking to escape his ordinary life. Diane Kruger (Troy) plays the object of his fantasies. The film is produced by Arcand’s partner Denise Robert and Daniel Louis, both of Cinemaginaire.

Vivafilm has doled out nearly $1 million for the ‘huge’ marketing campaign for Darkness, according to Roy.

‘We’re everywhere…it’s impossible to be in Quebec without knowing that this film is being released Friday,’ he says, citing TV and radio commercials as well as postering campaigns across the province.

Vivafilm has big expectations for the film, though Roy quickly adds it isn’t necessarily anticipating the same numbers as Invasions, which generated more than $5 million at the Quebec box office.

‘It’s tough to predict…we expect success because we know people are really anxious to see it…but I would never say that I expect the same numbers as Invasions, ‘ he says.

Darkness — the conclusion in Arcand’s loose trilogy that started with 1986’s The Decline of the American Empire — will eventually be released in English Canada, though no official date has been set. Studio Canal is handling international sales.

Meanwhile, Clement Virgo’s Poor Boy’s Game is getting a platform release through Seville Pictures Friday, and will play on one screen each in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal.

Seville VP of marketing Victor Rego says it’s a challenge to open in the months after the Toronto International Film Festival amid a very saturated market.

‘There’s been an average of five films opening in every major market…we’re sort of suffering from all that post-TIFF product getting shoved into theaters,’ he remarks.

The boxing drama, starring Danny Glover and Rossif Sutherland, ended its exclusive two-screen run on Thursday in Dartmouth, NS and Halifax — where it was shot last year.

Rego says the distrib is hoping to expand to Vancouver before Christmas. The film will open for an exclusive engagement at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in April through ThinkFilm.

Calgary director Robert Cuffley’s Walk All Over Me, which bowed in the Canada First! program at TIFF, is also getting a three-screen release in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. The thriller stars Leelee Sobieski (The Wicker Man) as a desperate girl who assumes her friend’s dominatrix identity in order to pay the bills. Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) also stars.

The festival-laden weekend will also see the release of Brit director Joe Wright’s romance drama Atonement, opening in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver through Odeon Films. The distributor is also opening the U.S. videogames doc The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters in Toronto, with plans to expand to Vancouver next week.

Also in theaters Friday is the controversial fantasy adventure The Golden Compass, opening wide through Alliance Films.