When I heard that a remake of the John Wayne classic True Grit was being made, my first reaction was "Sacrilege!" After all, as a big John Wayne fan, seeing "The Duke" as Rooster Cogburn is the only way I wanted to enjoy this story of a young girl with the tenacity to hire a one-eyed U. S. Marshall with "true grit" to hunt down her father's killer.

After all, Wayne won a Best Actor Oscar for his role, so who would have the guts to bring a remake to the big screen and would they screw it up?

Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn and Hailee Steinfeld plays
Mattie Ross in Paramount Pictures 'True Grit'. Photo credit: Lorey Sebastian.
Copyright © 2010 PARAMOUNT PICTURES.  All Rights Reserved.

I guess if there is anyone in Hollywood that could pull it off, it just might be the Coen brothers, who are taking the helm of True Grit, which is due out on Christmas Day. However, these are the same guys that directed off-beat movies, like A Serious Man and Burn After Reading, and even though No Country for Old Men won for Best Picture back in 2008, it wasn't your traditional action movie. However, I'd be much more worried if the story were in the hands of the many less-talented directors out there.

The trailer for the movie was just released, and you can view it here from our Trailers & Videos page, and I have to admit that it has me intrigued! Casting Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn and Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney were both good choices, and the atmosphere that is evident in this trailer makes the movie look like it's not going to be some blatant no-good rip-off, even though it shows many familiar scenes from the original movie.

As a result of seeing the trailer, I've added the movie to my Favorite Movies list, and I'm looking forward to seeing more about it.

What Do You Think?

I'd be curious to hear from our readers and read your opinions of the trailer and your thoughts on the prospects of bringing True Grit back to the big screen.

Leave your comments below!