Embattled Peace Arch Entertainment has put a $15-million movie, The Boathouse, on hold after being swamped by the dramatic arrest of CEO Gary Howsam earlier this week.

British producer Studio Eight Productions was set to lens the psychological thriller starting next week in Barrie, ON. A local lakeside cottage was prepped for the shoot, which is based on a script by Vancouver-based screenwriter Elizabeth Stewart.

But everything changed Wednesday when Studio Eight executives received a phone call from Peace Arch indicating they should pull their oars from the water.

Alex Brown, a principal of Studio Eight, based in London, said he was told the production delay was prompted by ‘current internal concerns’ at Peace Arch’s headquarters in Toronto and its satellite office in Los Angeles.

‘Studio Eight will be working with them to get it [The Boathouse] going in the immediate future, because we’re so impressed with the quality of Peace Arch’s production arm,’ Brown added.

Studio Eight is run by veteran producer Jamie Brown, who has a long association with Peace Arch and Howsam. The former Peace Arch CEO was placed on administrative leave after his arrest Monday while attending the American Film Market in Los Angeles.

The Boathouse, set around an idyllic summer cottage, portrays a young woman who must face the truth about her complicity in the disappearance of her mentor.

The movie will now be shot in spring 2008, according to Peace Arch president and COO John Flock. He said moving the start date was prompted by a need to deal with more immediate issues in the executive suite, and to leave the job of securing final loans and presales for The Boathouse to a later date.

‘It’s a good project — we like it,’ Flock said.

He added other upcoming productions for the Peace Arch movie slate, especially low-budget genre shoots in Hamilton, will go ahead unaffected by current events.