Paramount Pictures has released updates on two of their films via Variety. The first is for Joel and Ethan Coen‘s True Grit remake. The film which stars Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Jeff Bridges has received a Christmas Day release. On a much lesser note, Paramount’s new Footloose update was looking at a June 18th release, but has now been moved off the calendar. This delay can likely be attributed to director Kenny Ortega dropping out over “creative differences”.
The True Grit remake is said to be more faithful to the original Charles Portis novel than the 1969 film adaptation, which John Wayne won an Oscar for. The novel is about a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman, tracks her father’s killer in hostile Indian territory. The Coen’s version will tell the tale from the girl’s point of view, unlike the John Wayne film, which focused strictly on his character.
The Coens are two of my favorite directors and their most recent film, A Serious Man, was my favorite of last year. They are on quite a hot streak with Burn After Reading and No Country For Old Men before that. It’s nice to see them constantly putting out films, unlike other talented directors (I’m looking at you PTA). It’s a good feeling knowing that we have a Coen film to cap off what will hopefully be a great year in film.
True Grit starts filming this spring.
What do you think about True Grit? Are you excited to see it this year?