The Coen Brothers have done a modern western in No Country For Old Men and now they’re going old school by remaking John Wayne. Variety says their next movie will be a new take on True Grit, the 1969 western starring John Wayne and Glen Campbell.
In the original movie, a teenage tomboy sets out to avenge her father’s death by recruiting a gritty old marshal named Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) and a Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) looking for her father’s murderer. Their hunt for the killer takes them on a journey across Arkansas and deep into Indian Territory. Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper had small roles in the film as outlaws.
The first movie focused primarily on John Wayne’s now iconic Cogburn character. The Coens are putting a twist on it by telling their version from the girl’s point of view. It’ll also focus more re-adapting the Charles Portis book Wayne’s movie was taken from, rather than using the 1969 movie as a source. But let’s face it, we all know that’s just positioning to make another remake easier to swallow. Rooster Cogburn should probably be left alone, it’s not like anybody is going to do it better than The Duke. Perhaps that’s why the Coens are focusing on the teenage girl, since Cogburn can’t possibly be done better.
