HALIFAX - The small-budget biopic of folk artist Maud Lewis has become an unlikely Atlantic Canadian blockbuster.
Distributor Mongrel Media says "Maudie" is the region's No. 2 film, with a higher per-screen average last weekend than the top-grossing The Fate of the Furious.
Alison Zimmer, Mongrel's theatrical sales co-ordinator, says the movie "over-performed" in the region, with a weekend per-screen average of $7,239.
The drama stars Oscar-nominated British actor Sally Hawkins as the reclusive Nova Scotia artist whose hands were riddled with arthritis, and American Ethan Hawke as her fish peddler husband, Everette.
It opened in limited release on April 14, and is currently being shown on 30 screens, half in the Atlantic region.
People have lined up around the block at some theatres, and at least one Halifax junior high school plans a field trip Thursday to see it.
Zimmer says the success has exceeded initial expectations, although she adds that she knew Maudie would be an East Coast hit -- it is set in Nova Scotia and was filmed in Newfoundland.
