Canadian Cinema: Catch the Fever!

This week is a big week for movies here in Canada. Snakes on a Plane - the most brilliantly marketed movie, well, ever - is finally released. Accepted also comes out to less fanfare, though it could be a sleeper movie this year. But most importantly for Canadian cinema, Bon Cop, Bad Cop opens in all of Canada that is not Quebec.

Bon Cop, Bad Cop is basically a buddy cop movie, only twisting the formula slightly. Instead of the normal by the book cop paired with the out of control wild man cop, they add in a twist of an English speaking Ontario based cop teaming with a French speaking Quebec based cop. I haven't read a bad word about the movie yet, which is a good sign. And it has been doing extremely well in Quebec, where it was released two weeks ago. As a matter of fact, it was 17th in gross sales in North America on its opening weekend, despite being shown on 132 screens. (Little Miss Sunshine did even better, earning more money with half of the screens as BCBC.)

This is a major test of Canadian Cinema. Quebec has a thriving film scene, where it is possible to release a successful non-Hollywood film. But for the rest of Canada, it is death to be labelled a "Canadian" movie, no matter the quality of the movie. Will people flock to Bon Cop, Bad Cop? Or will it follow the route of Going the Distance and Men With Brooms?

This weekend will be interesting, to say the least.