The Coens next flick

The Coen brothers are geniuses again, so it’s time to get really excited about their next project. Perhaps because of the success they’ve mined in adapting Cormac McCarthy’s novel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the Coens have selected another living American literary giant’s work to do adapt. He goes by the name of Michael Chabon (pronounced Shay-bon) and the book is joyously called THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN’S UNION. It’s plot is historically revisionist, and wonderfully inventive. Check it out:

Chabon sets up a contemporary scenario where Jewish settlers are about to be displaced by U.S. government’s plans to turn the frozen locale of Sitka, Alaska, over to Alaskan natives. Against this backdrop is a noir-style murder mystery in which a rogue cop investigates the killing of a heroin-addicted chess prodigy who might be the messiah.

Fun, right? There probably aren’t directors on this planet who are better suited for this material than the Coens. They’ll of course adapt the screenplay themselves, and re-team with producer Scott Rudin, who worked with them on NO COUNTRY, their biggest box-office success to date. Up next, the Coen’s have the CIA dramedy BURN AFTER READING, with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Frances McDormand.