Xixax Film Forum

Coens speak 'Yiddish' for Columbia
Rudin producing adaptation of Chabon's 'Union'
Source: Variety

For their next collaboration, the "No Country for Old Men" team of Joel and Ethan Coen and producer Scott Rudin will transfer another Pulitzer Prize-winning author's work into a film.

Columbia Pictures has acquired screen rights to the bestselling Michael Chabon novel "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," with the Coens writing, directing and producing with Rudin.

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.

The Coens will turn their attention to the book after they shoot "A Serious Man" for Working Title and Focus.

"No Country" has become the highest-grossing film for the brothers, and the pic is nominated for eight Oscars. The Coens are up for four of them, and their trophy haul so far includes WGA, SAG, DGA, PGA and BAFTA awards.

"Yiddish" is the third Chabon novel that Rudin is translating to the screen. The first was "Wonder Boys," and Rudin is developing a Paramount-based adaptation of Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," which Chabon scripted.

Nooooooo!!! I wanted to adapt that for the screen. Based on my reaction to NCFOM I shudder at what the Coens will do to this book, but I guess they are a very interesting choice for itk. For those of you yet to read it, I really do urge you to. It's quite a complex tale involving chess, religion and terrorism, and our hero is a disheveled police detective who takes a lot of beatings. But I fear the Coens will strip away all that is good about this book and just make it a generic seedy noir which will be an exercise in style of substance. I will be watching this movie closely.

Perfect. I love Chabon and I'd say this was the most filmic of all his books. Everything apart from the very last section seems to suit the Coen's style.

As for casting, I always had Adam Beach from Flags of our Fathers in mind for Berko.

Now if someone would finally get Kavalier and Klay off the ground....

the Coens are out of original stories.