Uwe Boll is cautiously optimistic that his biggest release yet, the Vancouver-shot In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, will strike a chord with moviegoers as it opens on 100 screens in Canada through Peace Arch Entertainment on Friday. A further 1,600 prints will play in the U.S. via Freestyle Releasing.

The fantasy adventure will face little direct competition this week, but the contentious producer/director, best known for R-rated video-game adaptations including House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark and BloodRayne (all of which were widely panned by critics), concedes it’s not a sure bet Dungeon Siege will make money at the box office, despite its friendlier PG-13 rating in the U.S. It is rated PG in Ontario.

‘You cannot really count on theatrical success. I know what we will do on DVD and TV with the movie, but with theatrical it’s always a guessing game,’ says Boll, who divides his time between Germany and Vancouver.

The $60-million Dungeon Siege, Boll’s most expensive film to date, stars British thesp Jason Statham as a peasant forced to take action when his wife is kidnapped by a race of animal-warriors controlled by an evil wizard. The film also features Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds and Claire Forlani. (All figures in U.S. funds.) Reviews have been harsh.

Boll says the film’s makers initially planned to have 2,200 prints out, but were only able to secure 1,600 screens due to the continued strong presence of Christmas releases, including I Am Legend and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

‘We thought these movies would be more down already, and that they can pull a few screens, but it looks like the top five films are still running with the same screen amount this weekend,’ he says on the phone from Frankfurt.

The 42-year-old filmmaker reckons Dungeon Siege, which arrives with a total P&A push of $15 million, will generate between $5 million and $7 million over the weekend in North America.

‘I think it’s doable. If we make more…good. If we make less, it would be very bad,’ he adds.

Boll is currently in negotiations with Peace Arch on release dates and prints for his already-controversial action-comedy Postal, while he hopes to shoot the romantic comedy Fourth Chance with former teen star Freddie Prinze Jr (She’s All That) this summer in Vancouver.

‘I didn’t develop the romantic comedy on my own,’ he laughs, adding that Prinze Jr. approached him to direct the film. ‘It was time for a change and to do something not based on video games,’ he adds.

Also opening Friday is the French-language feature Persepolis, last year’s Cannes jury prize winner, which will play in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal through Mongrel Media.

The weekend will also see the release of the Columbia Pictures comedy First Sunday, starring Ice Cube, and the animation The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, from Warner Bros. Warner will also expand its comedy The Bucket List, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, into wide release.