Mambo Italiano is continuing its dance with the box office following an impressive opening weekend in English Canada. The film festival fave, starring Paul Sorvino and Mary Walsh, produced by Montreal’s Cinemaginaire and distributed by Equinoxe Films, took in about $600,000 in its first weekend outside of Quebec, on 129 screens, according to Equinoxe VP, distribution Yves Dion. That’s a per screen average of about $4,650.

‘We’re very pleased,’ says Dion, who predicts English-Canadian B.O. receipts of about $1 million by the weekend of Sept. 26. It would appear that Mambo’s $1.2-million marketing campaign for the three weeks of pre-publicity and film’s first week of release was money well spent.

In Quebec, the film continues to do well, having grossed approximately $3 million since opening June 6. In all, Dion expects Mambo to have grossed $4 million in Canada by Sept. 26.

The film also opened in select U.S. cities Sept. 19.

Mambo seems poised to take a run at this year’s Canadian box-office leader, La Grande seduction, which had amassed a net box-office total (without taxes) of nearly $6.2 million following the Sept. 19 weekend. The film is still going strong, currently running on 48 screens.

Denys Arcand’s acclaimed Les Invasions barbares has counted roughly $5 million in Quebec (net, without taxes) and is scheduled to open in English Canada and the U.S. on Nov. 21 courtesy of Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm. It is still being projected on a dozen screens in Quebec and is about to open on 400 screens in France, where the film is distributed by Pyramide.

Another Vivafilm release, Gaz Bar Blues, which recently made a splash at the Montreal World Film Festival, has taken in more than $333,000 thus far in Quebec.

All chase the benchmark set by last year’s Seraphin, which garnered an estimated $9.5-million at the Quebec box office, making it the highest-grossing Canadian film ever.

In addition to Invasions, some other upcoming Canadian releases to watch for are Sur le Seuil, which will open on 70 screens in Quebec Oct. 3, as will Alliance Atlantis’ Foolproof, directed by William Phillips and starring Ryan Reynolds. Mark Slone, AAC VP, marketing and publicity, says the company is hoping the film will open on about 200 screens in both English and French Canada.