Maudie a big hit in Atlantic Canada

The small-budget biopic of folk artist Maud Lewis has become an unlikely Atlantic-Canadian blockbuster.

Maudie is the region’s No. 2 film, with a higher per-screen average last weekend than top-grossing The Fate of the Furious, according to Mongrel Media, the film’s distributor.

The drama stars Oscar-nominated British actor Sally Hawkins as the reclusive Nova Scotia artist and American Ethan Hawke as her fishpeddler husband, Everette.

It opened in limited release on April 14 and is currently being shown on 30 screens, half in the Atlantic region.

A total of 75 screens will play Maudie across Canada by this weekend.