MONTREAL — Despite its cast of beloved homegrown stars and TVA Film’s carefully planned rollout, Pour toujours les Canadiens faired poorly its first weekend in theaters, likely due to the media controversy surrounding its release.

The film, made to mark the 100th anniversary of the Habs franchise, averaged only $1,248 from its 90 screens, landing it in eighth place in the Quebec box-office top 10.

Directed by Sylvain Archambault and produced by Lorraine Richard and Luc Martineau, the Christmas family tale was blasted by influential La Presse film critic Marc Cassivi after its massive November premiere at the Bell Centre.

Many journalists, including Cassivi, were surprised and angered at having to sign a form promising not to write about the film until its release when they arrived at the Bell Centre screening. Cassivi wrote a review anyway, calling it an ‘advertisement disguised as a film.’ Most reporters respected the embargo and wrote more positive reviews when the film was released three weeks later. But because Cassivi is the most widely read critic in the province, his piece likely damaged the film’s box-office potential.

In response to Cassivi’s review, Archambault accused those who ignored the embargo as being unethical, anti-commercial and too intellectual to appreciate the merits of the film, which tells the story of the Canadiens against the backdrop of a relationship between a sick young boy and an older adolescent. ‘I made this film for ordinary people, not to appease the egos of certain journalists,’ he told he online news magazine canoe.ca, which, like TVA Films, is owned by Quebecor Media.

Other observers point to the fact that the film was released Dec. 4, the same night there was a 100th anniversary hockey game and ceremony at the Bell Centre which drew many fans.

Neither TVA Films nor Richard were available to comment on this article.