Nice. When we put the Coen Brothers’ remake of “True Grit” in our 75 Most Anticipated Films of 2o1o we were being hopeful, not actually sure if the film would be released this year.
Lo and behold our wishes have come true. Variety is reporting that Paramount has given the film a Christmas Day release date, an indicator they’ll be positioning this one towards Oscar season for sure.
No other details in Variety’s piece, but last we all heard the film was set to shoot in March and the Coen Brothers had turned to the Internet to try and cast the key teenage girl role in the film. With December 25 now locked in, they’re probably not pushing that production start date back any further.
“True Grit” is a remake of the 1969 Henry Hathaway’ Western starring John Wayne and Glen Campbell.
The story centers on a stubborn and headstrong teenager (the female they’re scouring the internet for) who hires a drunken, irascible U.S. Marshall (now Jeff Bridges) to track down the drifter/hired hand (Josh Brolin) who double crossed and murdered her father. A hard-nosed Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) also on the man’s tail for previous crimes soon joins their hunt.
The producers on the project are Scott Rudin (“No Country For Old Men”) and Steven Spielberg. We read the script earlier this year, and while the Coens say that, true to the original book, their picture will be much funnier than the original film, the script isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs either. It should land somewhere between the stoic darkness of “No Country,” and black, twisted humor of “A Serious Man.”
In related news, Paramount has pushed their remake of “Footloose” off their schedule. After the aforementioned news, like you really care.