American Thanksgiving will give distributors here an added boost in ticket sales going into this weekend, though it remains to be seen if the early release of Four Christmases, Australia and the new Transporter will help them against Twilight or James Bond.

Christmases, a holiday comedy with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, arrived on screens here and in the U.S. on Wednesday, along with the war epic Australia and Transporter 3.

‘You can expect to do more business on a five-day weekend compared to a three-day weekend just based purely on all the extra showtimes you get on the two extra days,’ says Alliance VP of sales Rob McKenzie, though, naturally, such titles will do much lower-than-usual percentage of business in Canada compared to the U.S., since many Americans take Thursday and Friday off.

Even with a two-day advantage, the new releases still face an uphill battle against strong holdovers including Seville’s vampire teen phenom Twilight and Columbia’s Quantum of Solace.

Alliance on Friday will add another 152 prints for Christmases, bringing its total screen count to 322. The distributor also has the Sean Penn-starrer Milk, about California’s first openly gay elected official, opening in Toronto and Vancouver, followed by Montreal on Dec. 5.

Maple Pictures has Transporter 3, which plays on 202 screens this weekend. The Jason Statham actioner doubled its earnings in North America to US$43 million for the 2005 sequel, according to Box Office Mojo, prompting a third movie in the series. Baz Luhrmann’s $130-million Australia gets a wide release via 20th Century Fox, looking to lure older women and couples.

Meanwhile, Equinoxe Films quietly bows the Montreal-shot Israeli drama Restless at Toronto’s Sheppard Grande theater, while in Quebec, Alliance Vivafilm releases actor-turned-director Luc Picard’s fantasy Babine, based on the show by Quebec performer Fred Pellerin, on 76 screens.