Momentum builds to complete legendary documentarian’s final grand statement

Claude Demers’ film about aging Quebec crooner Michel Louvain to open Festival du nouveau cinéma

Clement Virgo to direct big-screen adaptation of Lawrence Hill’s best-selling novel

Canadian doc to be screened at UN global-warming conference

Christmas Dreams and Paul Telner Project among new offerings in beefed-up kids and family slate

Former Alliance Atlantis chief set to replace Maple’s Laurie May at mini-major

It was a place where film stars shared the same space as storm troopers, zombies and ink-blotted homicidal detectives. No, it wasn’t a bizarre dream (or viral mash-up YouTube video), it was the 2009 Comic-Con International.

It’s not uncommon for old copyrighted work to make its way into new creative. Media types frequently borrow, reference and tribute other works in their creations. Usually, it’s just a matter of signing an agreement with the original copyright owners (well… and paying them, too), but what happens when a copyright owner can’t be found?

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Twilight fans reacted with all their usual restraint upon news that Montreal’s Rachelle Lefevre has dropped out of the franchise’s third movie, Eclipse, because of a scheduling conflict with Barney’s Version. Summit Entertainment has since cast Bryce Dallas Howard in her place. Such a complex issue really can’t be boiled down to a single question. So, on the verge of breathless hysteria, we ask:

+ Shooting on The Republic of Doyle has resumed following an outbreak of swine flu on its St John’s set. The shoot missed five days out of its schedule as a result. ‘We’ll make up those days either in the body of the schedule or by tacking on some additional days,’ says producer Rob Blackie of Take the Shot Productions.

The industry lost another veteran at the end of July. Paul Harris, 77, began his career as a sound editor at Crawley Films in Ottawa, before branching out into animation with posts at Atkinson Film Arts and Lacewood Productions, both of Ottawa.