By The Way: Coen Brothers Remaking ‘True Grit’
Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 16, 2009
In the totally random fashion that most news comes bounding into my brain – I was reminded by Greg Mottola, director of Superbad and Adventureland, that the Coen Brothers are planning on creating a remake of True Grit.
It’s a news story that’s been around for about a year or so, but hasn’t really spread out all that widely. The story about the project hit Arkansas Business since there’s a decent chance that they’ll be filming the adaptation of the Charles Portis novel in the northern Arkansas area, specifically Ft. Smith.
According to that article, the new adaptation will be a bit closer to the novel, keeping the girl at the age of 14 and focusing mainly on her as the focal point of the story.
This is by all means exciting news – although the one sticking point is a question of who could possible fill John Wayne’s shoes as Rooster Cogburn. The Coens are going to be working with Scott Rudin for the project, but it should be a few years before production even gets ramped up. They are currently working on setting up an adaptation of Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.” So basically, we’re nowhere near hearing about casting for this thing, but the shadow that Wayne casts on the role and the original film is a huge one to step out from under.
What do you think? Is there anyone out there that can play Rooster Cogburn? Will I look cooler if I start wearing an eye patch?
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