Christmas Bow For Coen's "True Grit" Remake

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

Paramount has scheduled the Coen Brothers remake of "True Grit" for a Christmas Day 2010 release, says Variety.

According to Variety: “Paramount Pictures will release Joel and Ethan Coen's remake 'True Grit' on Christmas Day.”

“At the same time, Paramount has taken ‘Footloose,’ which was to open June 18, off the release calendar. The remake hit a major roadblock when Kenny Ortega dropped out as director, reportedly over creative differences. ‘True Grit's’ high-profile release date positions the film for an awards run and allows the picture to capitalize on the holiday frame.”

Based on Charles Portis' novel, the story follows a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal (Jeff Bridges) and another lawman (Matt Damon), tracks her father's killer in hostile Indian Territory. Josh Brolin also stars.

The Christmas release date sets the film in great position to make an awards run at the end of the year. After winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for “No Country For Old Men,” any project the brothers do should garner awards attention, but this one is a sure thing. The original film is a classic, and won John Wayne an Academy Award for Best Actor.

With stars like Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, the film should have some very strong acting performances, and is a solid candidate to be one of the best of the year. It also will be great to see the Coen Brothers tackle the Western genre, which they kind of did with “No Country,” but that film had contemporary elements and wasn’t as much a Western film.

The remake of “True Grit” will hit theaters December 25, 2010.