The Paul Gross-starrer Gunless had a less-than-stellar debut at the weekend box office despite high expectations and considerable marketing efforts by Alliance Films.

The B.C.-shot western comedy from director William Phillips earned roughly $270,000 on 155 screens, for a per-screen average of around $1,700. It features Gross as an American gunslinger who happens upon a sleepy Canadian town when he crosses the border to escape a bounty hunter.

The numbers are disappointing compared to Gross’ 2008 chart-topper Passchendaele. Gunless was a step down in terms of production, but Alliance put a lot of money into a national marketing campaign in line with that of Gross’ World War One epic and Hollywood fare. Gunless is coproduced by Brightlight Pictures and Rhombus Media.

Critics were not impressed with the film. Toronto’s CityNews said ‘the cast couldn’t save the film from sinking,’ while a headline in the Vancouver Sun‘s review read ‘Gunless pretty much laughless.’ The movie ‘feels surprisingly bland,’ observed Lee Ferguson of CBC News.