Alliance Films is in hot pursuit of the box-office crown this weekend with the comedy 17 Again, its largest release to date in 2009 and a sure bet to eclipse current champ Hannah Montana: The Movie.

17 Again, starring High School Musical‘s Zac Efron, bows on 365 screens in Canada, while it also has the widest release stateside through Warner Bros., with over 3,000 U.S. screens, according to Box Office Mojo.

Adolescent girls and fans of Disney phenom HSM are likely to flock to 17 Again at the expense of Hannah – which generated some US$32.3 million in North America last weekend. 17 Again also targets older audiences with its premise, about a thirtysomething man (Matthew Perry) who gets the chance to go back to high school as a 17-year-old (Efron) to change his life.

Also opening Friday is the action sequel Crank: High Voltage, starring Jason Statham, on 190 screens through Maple Pictures. The first film in the franchise, 2006’s Crank, grossed US$42 million worldwide.

Crank‘s biggest competition among adult audiences will be Universal Pictures’ political thriller State of Play, featuring heavyweights Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren, opening on roughly 2,700 North American screens.

Meanwhile, Maple is expanding Brit director Steve McQueen’s acclaimed drama Hunger, about the 1981 IRA hunger strike led by Bobby Sands, to Vancouver and Montreal this week, while it continues to play at Toronto’s Varsity. The film won the Camera d’Or prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The writer/director team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are back with their follow-up film to 2006’s Oscar-nominated Half Nelson, with the baseball drama Sugar – about a Dominican pitcher trying to make it in U.S. Minor League Baseball. The film bows at Toronto’s Varsity and Vancouver’s Tinseltown theaters Friday, and will expand to Montreal next week.