When filmmakers Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit approached Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds to work on their film, then titled Saving Luna, their agent didn’t have to do much pushing.

“He loved it right from the beginning,” says Chisholm. “It was important to us to keep it Canadian [and] we thought Ryan was a perfect fit having grown up in Vancouver and caring a lot about these orcas,” she adds.

His very famous then-partner, Scarlett Johansson, loved it too, and before their split the two became executive producers on the film, which is now titled The Whale with Reynolds as the narrator. The doc is opening in Toronto Nov. 11 and in Ottawa and Vancouver on Nov. 18.

Distribution for the film is handled by Kinosmith in Canada, with about half of the financing covered by Telefilm’s Alternative Distribution Fund.

The filmmakers, who are from Vancouver Island, initially became involved in the story about a lonely orca for a 2004 magazine article in the Smithsonian. The original 2009 film, which cost about $750,000, was eventually commissioned as a CBC documentary until Telefilm provided additional funding through their theatrical documentary program to turn it into a feature film.

“We basically had discussions (with Johansson and Reynolds) about how to streamline the film and how to make it more accessible. So from those discussions we went back and redid the film,” says Parfit.

“It’s much more accessible to people outside of the area where it happened. It’s much less political. The thematic focus is tighter and stronger,” he adds, stressing that this is not an “issues” documentary.

Critics favoured the film during its festival circuit run, which Parfit sees as evidence that it’s not just the star power that’s helped with the success of the film.

“Reviewers are not going to be bowled over by a star,” he says. “Having a well-known person narrate is great, but I think also the quality of narration is so good.”

Those who follow celeb gossip might wonder who got “custody” of the couple’s indie project – but the filmmakers say Johansson and Reynolds’ divorce was a “non-issue” with both of them affirming their commitment to the project after the breakup.