Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit is moving towards a very, very cool cast. We already know that Jeff Bridges will play the role originated by John Wayne, Rooster Cogburn. Cogburn is an aging U.S. Marshal who travels with another lawman and a 14 year-old girl in search of an outlaw that killed her father. While the original was a starring vehicle for Wayne, the Coens plan to adapt the book it was based on more faithfully, and tell the tale from the girl’s perspective.

Now Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are in talks to join the cast as well, setting the stage to make this one of the most anticipated projects of next year. Damon would play the fellow lawman, a Texas Ranger, while Brolin would play the killer. The girl has yet to be cast.

Jason Bourne, Llewelyn Moss, and The Dude in a Coen Bros. Western? There’s no way this new isn’t going to incite all sorts of fanboy buzz, and I’m right there with them. The casting of the girl will be key, but the rest of the cast is already so strong that I think they could anchor anyone in the lead role. Brolin, despite his great turn as good-guy Moss, plays a fantastic villain, and I’m excited to see Damon join his fellow A-list pals in jumping aboard a Coen-steered movie, as George Clooney and Brad Pitt did last year in Burn After Reading. The film is hoping to start shooting in the spring, and I think movie fans everywhere will be just as anxious to see this get into production as soon as possible.

How do you guys feel about this casting coup?

Tags: Coen Brothers, Ethan Coen, Jeff Bridges, Joel Coen, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, True Grit