COMING-of-age feature film Lost and Delirious by Quebec director Lea Pool opened in major Canadian markets July 27 with 92% of the box office receipts generated in the U.S. over its opening weekend there earlier in the month.

With 26 prints in circulation in Canada, the film earned $58,000 in its first three days – the same weekend that Planet of the Apes opened with North American box office of $100 million.

More than $7,300 of Lost and Delirious’s opening weekend take was generated by Vancouver’s Fifth Avenue Cinemas.

With six fewer prints in circulation in the U.S., Lost and Delirious opened the July 6 weekend with US$41,000, which is $62,800 at current exchange rates.

As of July 30, Lost and Delirious had generated US$170,800 ($261,600) in U.S. theatres, according to U.S. distributor Lions Gate Films. Canadian distributor Seville Films projected Canadian box office of $110,000 by the end of week one on Aug. 3.

‘It’s okay, not overwhelming,’ says Sylvain Brabant, director of programming for Seville. ‘There is a lot of competition. The word-of-mouth will carry it.’

Brabant says the timing of the release in Canada in advance of the Toronto Film Festival was tied to the U.S. release and the opportunity to capitalize on the publicity around the film and its rising stars Piper Perabo, Jessica Paré and Mischa Barton.

In the U.S., the film is unrated making it more difficult to market to more conservative markets, says Hank Truxillo, director of sales analysis at Lions Gate Films. He adds that box performance is on target with expectations.

Lost and Delirious, one of the buzz films at the Sundance Festival, is rated 13+ in Quebec and 14A in other parts of Canada.

Telefilm invested $1 million in the feature made by Cite-Amerique of Montreal and gave Seville Films, also of Montreal, $375,000 to market the production.