Cine-Groupe of Montreal has begun development of the Alice Munro short story A Wilderness Station, the company’s first live-action feature since 1994.

Better Than Chocolate director Anne Wheeler will helm the story of a woman trapped in an arranged marriage in the Canadian wilderness in the 1850s. Sarah Polley (Guinevere) is signed to star and will act as coproducer.

Cine-Groupe – best known for its animated productions, including the Teletoon series Mega Babies – decided to re-enter live-action feature filmmaking as part of its long-term development plans, says executive producer Bill Gray. Gray says the company will continue looking for appropriate feature projects.

‘Cine-Groupe has been growing in the last three or four years,’ he says. ‘Typically, when a company is growing, you have to make a decision where you want to take the company….[This] is part of a planned growth and expansion process.’

These plans also include the recent openings of offices in Toronto and Los Angeles, he says.

The screenplay for A Wilderness Station was penned by Wheeler and executive producer Charles Pitts. by Peter Vamos