Barney s Version

Barney's Version, which is playing on only seven screens across Canada, has already rung up $472,892 at the cash register, which is a great result for a Canadian film. It is doing particularly well here in Quebec, where it's unspooling on only three screens. It has already made $163,159 chez nous since its launch Dec. 24 in Quebec. It opened on two screens and distributor Seville Pictures added Kirkland this past Friday.

These are very good ticket sales for an older-skewed flick that isn't the most obvious commercial vehicle. It is based on Mordecai Richler's last novel and stars Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, and Minnie Driver in the tale of a boozing Montreal TV producer trying to come to terms with his troubled life.

The film is going gangbusters at the AMC Forum and, after a soft opening in French here, it has picked up in a big way at the Quartier Latin.

Barney will be expanding both here in Quebec and elsewhere this coming weekend. The number of screens in the Rest of Canada will expand to 31 on Jan. 14 and the total in Quebec will be increased to ten cinemas.

Why's it doing well? Cos Richler is a Canadian icon and the filmmakers have somehow managed to wrestle this big, sprawling epic into a moving, funny movie that features a couple of Oscar-worthy performances from Giamatti and Hoffman