MONTREAL: What do Jack Ruby, former federal justice minister Guy Favreau, and Cuban military leader Fulgencio Batista have in common? They were all connected with Lucien Rivard, a Montreal-born drug smuggler with international crime connections whose life story is featured in the French-language political thriller Rivard, scheduled to wrap shooting in Montreal June 9.

Mongrel and Capri continue to lead homegrowns at the Canadian box office with the critics’ darling, while the drama also scores strong numbers in the U.S.

Mike Myers is reportedly set to shoot his next feature, the Paramount comedy The Love Guru, in his hometown of Toronto this summer. The project will see Myers – absent from live-action pictures since 2003’s Cat in the Hat – play a Canadian who, left by his parents in India, becomes an expert on love. Myers will reteam with director Marco Schnabel (Austin Powers in Goldmember), and says the film will shoot in August, arriving in theaters next year.

Amaze Film and Television is looking to expand its presence south of the border with help from its new partner, Toronto- and L.A.-based Blueprint Entertainment.

Peace Point Entertainment is making a second season (13 x 30) of Ed’s Up for OLN, putting Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies back on a plane for parts unknown. The shoot is expected to run to mid-August, exec produced by OLN’s Patrice Baillargeon.

Epitome Pictures has started work on a fourth season (13 x 30) of Instant Star and its seventh go-round of Degrassi: The Next Generation (24 x 30), both of which will shoot mainly at its Toronto site until the end of the year. CTV is currently airing the second season of Star, with plans to catch up and run the third in July.

Casting is underway on Vincenzo Natali’s next feature, Splice, with plans to shoot the sci-fi horror this summer in Toronto under executive producers Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth), Don Murphy (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and Susan Montford (Shoot ‘Em Up), with producer Steve Hoban (Black Christmas, Ryan) of local shop Copperheart Entertainment and exec Franck Chorot (Chrysalis) of France’s Gaumont. The story, by Natali, follows two genetic scientists who become celebrities for creating new, fantastic creatures from animal DNA.

Proper Television (Canada’s Worst Handyman) is preparing to shoot a new documentary series, TV Made Me Do It. Noting that enrollment in forensics programs has jumped since the debut of CSI, and that sales of Firebird Trans Ams doubled during the mid-’80s run of Knight Rider, the Toronto production house recently put out a call for people whose lives have been altered by what they saw on the tube. It is expected to air this winter on TVtropolis, following a summer/fall shoot in Canada and the U.S.

Carl Bessai has wrapped his new feature, Normal, after a four-week shoot in Victoria. Carrie-Anne Moss (Memento), Kevin Zegers (Transamerica) and Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica) star as three strangers brought together by tragedy. Bessai (Unnatural & Accidental) wrote the script with Travis McDonald (Blood Ties), and doubled as both director and cinematographer.

Saskatoon-based Angel Entertainment will next month go to camera on Rabbit Fall, a 6 x 30 drama for APTN and SCN. Casting is still underway, but producers Bob Crowe, Wally Start and Jennifer Podemski have signed Andrea Menard to the lead, playing a big-city police officer stationed to a spooky small town. The Saskatchewan shoot will also provide a training program for aboriginals working on the project, providing mentorship and training.

Private ownership of iconic historical images threatens the classical documentary

It was the third attempt in the last four years by a company hoping to get regulatory approval to sell ads in local avails for non-Canadian programming. It has now officially become the third failed attempt