Actors Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are now in talks to join actor Jeff Bridges in the upcoming re-imagining of Paramount Pictures' "True Grit", prepping for a March 2010 start, directed by the Coen Brothers.
Producers are Scott Rudin and Steven Spielberg.
The Coens' screenplay is reportedly more faithful to author Charles Portis' 1968 novel than the 1978 feature starring Oscar-winning John Wayne as 'Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn'.
"True Grit" by Portis, first appeared as a 1968 serial in The Saturday Evening Post magazine, subsequently re-issued in book form, narrated in the first person by 'Mattie Ross', a churchgoing spinster distinguished by her rare independence and strength of mind.
As an elderly woman in the year 1928, she tells the story of her adventures from 1873, when, at the age of fourteen, she undertook a quest to avenge her father’s death at the hands of a drifter named 'Tom Chaney'.
As Mattie's tale begins, Chaney is employed on the Ross family farm in west central Arkansas, near the town of Dardanelle, Yell County.
Chaney isn't much use as a farmhand and Mattie has only scorn for him, referring to him as "trash." She says her father 'Frank Ross', a good, kind man, only hired him out of pity.
One day, Ross and Chaney go to Fort Smith to buy some horses. Ross takes $250 with him to pay for the horses, but manages to purchase them for only $100, holding onto $150 and two lucky gold pieces he always carried as emergency.
Later, when Ross tries to intervene in a drunken barroom confrontation, Chaney kills him, robs the body of the $150 and gold pieces, fleeing into Indian Territory (Oklahoma) on his horse.
Hearing that Chaney has joined an outlaw gang led by 'Lucky Ned Pepper', most of the local marshals refuse to give chase. But Mattie sets out to track down the killer, and arriving at Fort Smith looks for the toughest deputy Marshal in the district.
That man turns out to be Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, and although he is an aging, one-eyed, trigger-happy drunk, he also is a man of his word with 'true grit'.
Mattie decides she's found her man and playing on Cogburn's need for whiskey money, persuades him to take on the job, insisting that, as part of the bargain, she must go along.
During negotiations a Texas Ranger named 'La Boeuf' also wants in, as he is also tracking Chaney for killing a senator in Texas.
Cogburn and La Boeuf dislike each other immediately, but agree to join forces, trying to leave Mattie behind, but she proves tenacious and resourceful, becoming a respected member of the posse.
Together, but with very different motivations, the three ride into the wilderness to confront Ned Pepper's gang.
Sneak Peek the original trailer for "True Grit"...
Producers are Scott Rudin and Steven Spielberg.
The Coens' screenplay is reportedly more faithful to author Charles Portis' 1968 novel than the 1978 feature starring Oscar-winning John Wayne as 'Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn'.
"True Grit" by Portis, first appeared as a 1968 serial in The Saturday Evening Post magazine, subsequently re-issued in book form, narrated in the first person by 'Mattie Ross', a churchgoing spinster distinguished by her rare independence and strength of mind.As an elderly woman in the year 1928, she tells the story of her adventures from 1873, when, at the age of fourteen, she undertook a quest to avenge her father’s death at the hands of a drifter named 'Tom Chaney'.
As Mattie's tale begins, Chaney is employed on the Ross family farm in west central Arkansas, near the town of Dardanelle, Yell County.
Chaney isn't much use as a farmhand and Mattie has only scorn for him, referring to him as "trash." She says her father 'Frank Ross', a good, kind man, only hired him out of pity.
One day, Ross and Chaney go to Fort Smith to buy some horses. Ross takes $250 with him to pay for the horses, but manages to purchase them for only $100, holding onto $150 and two lucky gold pieces he always carried as emergency.
Later, when Ross tries to intervene in a drunken barroom confrontation, Chaney kills him, robs the body of the $150 and gold pieces, fleeing into Indian Territory (Oklahoma) on his horse.
Hearing that Chaney has joined an outlaw gang led by 'Lucky Ned Pepper', most of the local marshals refuse to give chase. But Mattie sets out to track down the killer, and arriving at Fort Smith looks for the toughest deputy Marshal in the district.
That man turns out to be Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, and although he is an aging, one-eyed, trigger-happy drunk, he also is a man of his word with 'true grit'.Mattie decides she's found her man and playing on Cogburn's need for whiskey money, persuades him to take on the job, insisting that, as part of the bargain, she must go along.
During negotiations a Texas Ranger named 'La Boeuf' also wants in, as he is also tracking Chaney for killing a senator in Texas.
Cogburn and La Boeuf dislike each other immediately, but agree to join forces, trying to leave Mattie behind, but she proves tenacious and resourceful, becoming a respected member of the posse.
Together, but with very different motivations, the three ride into the wilderness to confront Ned Pepper's gang.
Sneak Peek the original trailer for "True Grit"...
