It's proving a ginormous 12 months for the Dude. First Jeff Bridges collected that long-deserved Oscar for Crazy Heart; next he goes back to the future in Tron Legacy and follows that by heading out to the Old West in the Coen Brothers' True Grit remake.
True Grit is Bridges' first Coen collaboration since **The Big Lebowski **and promises to be a darker, more violent take on Charles Portis' novel than Henry Hathaway's 1969 adaptation. Thanks then to Paramount for a first look at Bridges as Marshall Reuben Cogburn - 'Rooster' to his chums. He's joined here by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, the story's focal point, Mattie Ross, a 14 year-old girl he accompanies on a journey of revenge.
Cleaving closer to the source material, Bridges' Rooster is a more weathered, liquor-soaked lawman than Wayne's Oscar-winning depiction. As you can see for the still, this is a man for whom personal grooming comes a distant second to wreaking biblical vengeance on the wayward on his priority list.
The wayward in **True Grit **are Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), who kills Ross' father in cold blood, and Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper) whose band of outlaws Chaney joins. As the Marshall's grizzled visage proves, the film's Arkanas setting is very much eye-for-an-eye country.
**True Grit **is out in the UK on January 14.