Releases roundup: All quiet among the Canucks

The Wolfman

Canadian distributors are sitting this weekend out as the country settles in for the Vancouver Olympic Games, leaving Hollywood to duke it out.

Warner Bros. is pushing the star-studded Valentine’s Day, out on a reported 3,600 screens in North America, hoping to sway couples and females away from Sony and Alliance Films’ holdover Dear John. The romance drama bumped Avatar from the top spot at the box office last week, and has earned $3 million in Canada to date. Alliance says it will add a few more screens for John on Friday.

Valentine’s Day features intertwining storylines about couples and singles. The ensemble cast includes Jessica Alba, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper and Ashton Kutcher.

Countering the rom-com is Universal’s horror remake The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, which bows on 3,100 screens.

Meanwhile, the fantasy adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, about a teenager who discovers that he is the descendant of Greek gods, opens on 3,300 screens via 20th Century Fox.

On Wednesday, Cineplex will begin a four-day run of the concert film Céline: Through the Eyes of the World at select theaters. The film, which chronicles the life of the Quebec singer during her Taking Chances Tour, is being released by Sony’s special programming division, The Hot Ticket, and runs through next weekend, except Friday. .

Céline will play on 36 screens in cities including Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Saskatoon, Toronto, and various cities in Quebec.