Young Canadian star Taylor Kitsch and accomplished Irish actor Brendan Gleeson will take the leads in The Grand Seduction, the upcoming English-language remake of the Quebec hit.

Produced announced casting news for the Don McKellar-helmed production from Los Angeles Monday afternoon.

Based on the 2003 film La Grande Séduction (also called Seducing Dr. Lewis) penned by Ken Scott and directed by Jean-François Pouliot, the comedy follows a big-city physician who turns up in a harbour town that's in desperate need of a doctor.

There, a village leader (Gleeson) spurs the inhabitants into a campaign to seduce the young doctor (Kitsch) to settle permanently in the community, so the town can secure a factory to save it from financial ruin.

Brendan Gleeson, seen at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, will star in the Newfoundland-shot film. (Chris Pizzello/Associated Press)

B.C.-born Kitsch rose to fame in the noted U.S. high school football series Friday Night Lights and made the jump to film roles, including in the comic-inspired tale X-Men Origins: Wolverine and apartheid-set photojournalist story The Bang Bang Club. In 2012, he earned headline status with a trio of high-profile roles: playing the titular saviour in the fantastical John Carter, a troublemaker-turned-hero in Battleship and a California drug dealer battling a Mexican cartel in Savages.

Gleeson's recent performances include an acclaimed turn in the unconventional police buddy-comedy The Guard, period drama Albert Nobbs, hitman tale In Bruges and a recurring role in the Harry Potter series.

Joining the pair in the cast will be several stalwarts of the Canadian film and TV industry: Gordon Pinsent, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones and Liane Balaban.

Budgeted at $12.7 million, the film is based on a screenplay by filmmaker Michael Dowse and original writer Scott. It's being shot in St. John's and in other outport communities in Newfoundland, including Trinity Bay, Red Cliff, New Bonaventure and Port Rexton.

"It's been thrilling to see the elements of this production, this rock-solid script, this awesome cast and crew, coming together like natural forces in this timeless landscape," McKellar said in a statement.

Filmmaker and actor McKellar took over the production from original writer Scott after the latter was enlisted for a U.S. remake of his 2011 French comedy smash Starbuck.