This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!
The Coen Brothers' remake of the classic Western "True Grit" is coming together so well that Paramount has decided to push up its release to Christmas Day, 2010. The studio's remake of "Footloose," on the other hand, has been taken off the calendar entirely, but who cares?
The new "Grit" stars Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn (the role for which John Wayne won his only Oscar), a lawman who joins forces with La Boeuf, played by Matt Damon, to help a 14-year-old girl hunt down the man who murdered her father, played by Josh Brolin.
There's every reason to think this will be fantastic. The Coens directed Bridges in his most iconic role, as The Dude, aka Jeff Lebowski. They salvaged Josh Brolin from the overstock bin and made him a movie star by casting him in "No Country for Old Men." And Matt Damon, against all odds, has proven himself to be a serviceable badass (see: Bourne, Jason), "All the Pretty Horses" be damned.
The one major part left to cast is key, however: Mattie, the girl whose father has been killed. The Coens' version of the film is said to shift the focus of the story back to the little girl, as in Charles Portis' original novel, reported Collider, where the Wayne version centered on Rooster.
The quest for a proper Mattie was launched last month, with the website proclaiming that they're looking for "a girl who’s tough, strong, and tells it like it is." They still haven't found their Mattie, however. In fact, the call was extended to today, so if you're a girl between 12 and 17 who'd like to avenge your father's death, give 'em a shout.
