MONTREAL — Two Quebec producers hope to cash in on the centuries-old antagonism between the people of la belle province and their cousins across the Atlantic with their upcoming flick Le bonheur de Pierre, which stars two of French-language cinema’s most beloved actors: Quebec’s Rémy Girard and France’s Pierre Richard.

Currently being shot in Quebec’s Saguenay region, the $7.5-million coproduction (90% Canada, 10% France) is a comedy about a French physicist, Pierre, played by Richard, who moves to a small village in rural Quebec after inheriting an inn from his aunt.

But unlike La grande séduction — the popular Quebec film about a town that goes to great lengths to attract a doctor — the village of Sainte-Simone-du-Nord would prefer it if Pierre and his ambitious fashion journalist daughter Catherine (Sylvie Testud) went back to France.

‘The town is quite hostile towards them. But the professor is very naive — he doesn’t notice this. And his daughter is a real Parisian. She’s very irritating,’ producer Claude Bonin (iStudio Cinéma Télévision) tells Playback Daily.

Richard is essentially playing a version of ‘Le Grand Blond,’ says Bonin, referring to the Peter Sellers-like character the French actor played in the hit 1972 comedy Le grand blond avec une chassure noire (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe) ‘He’s kind of a Teflon man. No matter what happens, nothing bothers him. He’s always happy.’

Bonin is confident Le bonheur, which is directed by Robert Ménard (Cruising Bar) and written by Guy Bonnier, who also coproduces, will be popular here and internationally. ‘Both Rémy Girard and Pierre are very popular here and in France. I think this film will work very well in both cultures,’ he says.

The six-week shoot wraps in Saguenay Feb. 16; the final two weeks are in Paris. SODEC and Telefilm Canada decided not to fund the film, although it received $300,000 under the federal funder’s coproduction treaty agreement. More than half the budget — $3.9 million — comes from private investors. Alliance Films will release it, likely in November.