Montreal: Denys Arcand’s Les Invasions barbares has set a new record for a Quebec theatrical release, opening on 136 screens Friday, May 9, including nine screens with a subtitled English version. The previous record was held by Seraphin: Un homme et son peche, released last November on 123 screens. Both films are distributed by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm.

Guy Gagnon, AAV’s CEO, says Invasions’ P&A investment is in the order of $1.1 million.

Canada’s largest exhibitor Famous Players has joined the unprecedented launch campaign with a contribution of more than $500,000, says Nuria Bronfman, VP, corporate affairs.

Bronfman says the $500,000 contribution is made up of cash and the cost of a huge trailer campaign on all of FP’s 838 screens. Odeon Films, Invasions’ distributor in the English market, is planning a fall release.

‘Our objective is to raise awareness of indigenous films in our market and help create audiences for these phenomenal films,’ adds Bronfman.

Arcand (Jesus de Montreal, Stardom), who also wrote the screenplay, says, ‘I am thrilled that Famous Players, one of the best theatre chains in the world, is associating themselves with our film and is providing it with a wonderful platform to succeed.’

In Arcand’s Invasions, an official competition entry at this month’s Cannes Film Festival, the middle-aged generation of The Decline of the American Empire meets up with a new generation of family and friends at the hospital bedside of a gravely ill Remy, whose days are clearly numbered.

Decline was released in 1986 and earned about $2.8 million at the box office in Canada.

Invasions is a majority Canada/France coproduction between Denise Robert and Daniel Louis of Montreal’s Cinemaginaire and Fabienne Vonier of France’s Pyramide Productions.

Invasions’ gala premiere was held May 5 at Place des Arts with various dignitaries in attendance, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien, former Quebec premier Bernard Landry and Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay.

FP has invested close to $2 million in the release of Canadian films including Hollywood/Bollywood, Men With Brooms and Duct Tape Forever, and in 15 annual Canadian film festivals and Canadian Film Centre programs, Bronfman says.