Two very different takes on patriotism arrive in theaters Friday — courting niche crowds with the multi-city release of Stone of Destiny from Alliance, while E1 tests the waters with the four-hour version of Che.

Stone opens on 18 screens in cities including Halifax, St. John’s, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal, playing such diverse locations as the Varsity and Queensway in Toronto and Vancouver’s Scotiabank theater.

‘We have a mix of the best art houses and commercial theaters in each area,’ Alliance executive managing director Michael Rudnitsky tells Playback Daily, adding that the distributor hopes word of mouth will boost the $13-million Canada/U.K. copro in the coming weeks.

Destiny is Smith’s follow-up to 2003’s The Snow Walker, which, despite positive reviews, took in only US$200,000 in theaters. Rudnitsky says the comedy is ‘different’ from Snow Walker, an underdog story that ‘plays very well to audiences.’

Based on the Ian Hamilton book, Destiny follows the true story of four Scottish students who break into London’s Westminster Abbey to retrieve the ancient Stone of Scone as a gesture of defiance to British rule. It stars Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting), Kate Mara (Shooter), Charlie Cox (Stardust) and Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings trilogy).

Destiny faces a less crowded frame this week, and Rudnitsky says it’s unlikely the film will encounter competition from Oscar hopefuls prior to the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.

‘The Oscar movies have been on screen for so long and a lot of audiences have seen the films… [they’re] ready for something different,’ he offers.

Meanwhile, E1 Films is releasing the ‘road-show’ version of Steven Soderbergh’s marathon bio-drama Che, showing parts one and two of the Cuban revolutionary’s life story back-to-back as a four-hour feature film.

An E1 spokesperson says the road-show version will have no trailers, credits or commercials — though it will include a 15-minute intermission. Che opens in Toronto and Montreal on Friday, followed by Vancouver next week.