| The Bossé Empire | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Claude Desrosiers |
| Producer: | Lyse Lafontaine François Tremblay Guy A. Lepage |
| Starring: | Guy A. Lepage Claude Legault Valérie Blais |
| Music: | Christian Clermont |
| Cinematography: | Martin Falardeau |
| Editing: | Dominique Champagne |
| Studio: | Lyla Films |
| Distributor: | Alliance Vivafilm |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | French |
The Bossé Empire (French: L'Empire Bo$$é) is a Canadian mockumentary film, directed by Claude Desrosiers and released in 2012.[1] The film traces the rise and fall of Bernard Bossé (Guy A. Lepage), a man who grew from humble beginnings to become the wealthiest man in Quebec by delving into absolutely every sector of economic activity regardless of whether it was legal or illegal.[2]
The film's cast also includes Claude Legault, Valérie Blais, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Élise Guilbault, James Hyndman, Gabriel Arcand, Benoît McGinnis, Cynthia Wu-Maheux and Yves Pelletier.
The film was released to theatres on March 16, 2012.[3] Marketing efforts for the film included the creation of a fake website for Bossé's corporate empire.[4]
The film was not positively received by critics, with François Houde of Le Nouvelliste writing that its chief weakness was in casting Lepage, a comedian rather than an actor, in the demanding lead role, while relegating the stronger actors in its cast to relatively one-dimensional roles.[2]
It also fared poorly at the box office, making less money in its entire first two months of release than Paul Arcand's documentary film Driving to the Edge (Dérapages) had made just in its first week alone.[5]
The film received two Jutra Award nominations at the 15th Jutra Awards in 2013, for Best Hair (Ann-Louise Landry) and Best Makeup (Kathryn Casault).[6]