Joel and Ethan Coen will take their turn in the old west with the announcement that they will be adapting the original Charles Portis novel, True Grit. The book was first adapted into a movie in 1969, which starred the one and only John Wayne. The performance earned the legendary actor an Oscar.

True Grit tells the story of a young girl who, after her father is murdered, hires a drunk old Marshal to help find the killer. In the original, John Wayne played the Marshal, named Rooster Cogburn (also the title of the sequel), and he was the main character. In this new Coen Brothers version, the story will be more faithful to the book, and be told from the perspective of the young girl.

Aside from The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (both unbelievably great movies), Westerns have been near extinct lately. Though I’d love to see a resurgence of the genre, highly-respected names such as the Coens bringing a new one to the big screen is very exciting news. Let’s hope this is on a Coen Bros. fast track!

The movie is being produced through Paramount.

[Source: Variety]