Maple Pictures and Lionsgate Films are again banking on the star power of British thesp Jason Statham to draw audiences to his latest crime/action, The Bank Job, opening wide on Friday.

It’s the third Statham vehicle in three years from the distributors, following the actioners Crank (2006) and War (2007). Crank fetched US$10 million in North America in its opening weekend and took the number two spot behind Mark Wahlberg’s Invincible, while War, costarring Jet Li, made less of a splash with $9 million and fifth place over its August opening weekend. Statham was also the star of Uwe Boll’s latest, In the Name of the King.

Bank Job, based on a true story about a London robbery that involved the British government and Royal family, will bow on 75 screens in Canada and on 1,350 south of the border. It is directed by Roger Donaldson (The Recruit).

The wider releases for the weekend are Warner Bros.’ prehistoric epic 10,000 B.C. and the latest Martin Lawrence comedy, College Road Trip, from Disney.

Alliance Films is opening the U.K. dramedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, starring Amy Adams, on 23 screens in all major cities including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax.

Meanwhile, Alliance Vivafilm is going wide in Quebec with the boxing drama La ligne brisée, from director Louis Choquette, who helmed episodes of the TV series Rumours . It opens on 67 screens and features Nitro‘s Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge.

Coming up on March 14, Seville Pictures will release the thriller Funny Games, starring Naomi Watts and Michael Pitt, while Mongrel Media will bow the Asian sci-fi comedy CJ7 in Toronto and Vancouver.