Alliance Films looks to retain its stranglehold on the Canuck box office this weekend after taking the top three spots last week, led by the Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading.

The comedy is joined on Friday by animated feature Igor on 202 screens, while the Ed Harris-directed western Appaloosa bows exclusively at Toronto’s Varsity theater before expanding to 50 screens on Oct. 3.

Alliance could claim four out of the top five spots this week with Igor and other strong holdovers including ensemble comedy The Women and crime thriller Righteous Kill, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The distributor claimed 53% of the total weekend box office last week with Burn ($2 million), Righteous Kill ($1.4 million) and Women ($826,000).

Alliance executive managing director Michael Rudnitsky says midweek numbers have stayed strong for all three films.

‘We’re very happy… we hope the drops won’t be too big on the weekend,’ he tells Playback Daily, adding that all the Alliance titles have the added benefit of targeting different audiences.

Romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Girl looks to spoil things, however, as the Maple Pictures title unspools on 225 screens. The film stars Kate Hudson, Dane Cook and Jason Biggs.

‘[Girl] looks like the film that could do some very strong business… it’s definitely a contender for number one,’ says Rudnitsky, though he points out that Burn, featuring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and John Malkovich, has a lot of steam left.

‘[Burn] looks like it could be one of the Coen brothers’ highest-grossing movies ever,’ he says.

Also in theaters this weekend are TIFF titles including historical drama The Duchess, from Paramount Vantage, and comedy Ghost Town, distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The Samuel L. Jackson-starrer Lakeview Terrace bows wide via Columbia.

Meanwhile, Seville Pictures is opening the Japanese spaghetti western Sukiyaki Western Django in Toronto, while Mongrel Media bows the Czech comedy I Served the King of England in Toronto and Vancouver.