The $6.7 million film that Cinémaginaire’s Denise Robert is billing as next year’s big Quebec summer release is an action-comedy about a bickering father-and-son cop team starring three of the province’s most beloved comic actors.

De père en flic — a play on the expression ‘from generation to generation,’ the title means ‘from father to cop’ in Quebec slang — is currently shooting in Montreal and the wilds of Quebec’s Charlevoix region, northeast of Quebec City.

The fourth film by director Émile Gaudreault (Nuit de noces, Mambo Italiano and Surviving My Mother) features Michel Côté (C.R.A.Z.Y., Cruising Bar) and stand-up comic Louis-José Houde (Bon Cop, Bad Cop) as his son. Although the pair don’t get along, they are forced to work together to find a fellow police officer who’s been kidnapped by a motorcycle gang.

Rémy Girard (Les invasions barbares) plays the lawyer for the biker gang. In the midst of a personal crisis, Girard’s character is emotionally unstable and appears ready to betray his clients to the forces of law. The two cops decide to make contact with Girard by following him when he goes on vacation with his son for a week.

Producers describe the film as a cross between 48 Hours and Analyze This.

‘The film looks at how difficult relationships between fathers and sons can be because often they don’t communicate with each other,’ Robert tells Playback Daily. ‘It’s an action comedy and it’s lots of fun. The actors are really extraordinary to work with.’

Robert says filming in a remote area of Quebec was challenging: ‘Our base camp was in the forest. It’s very beautiful but cell phones don’t work. And there were too many black flies.’

The film is the first lead role for Houde, who is best known for his stand-up comedy. De père en flic will be distributed by Alliance Vivafilm and released next summer. Shooting began July 7 and will wrap at the end of August.