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Coen Brothers to Rewrite WWII Drama 'Unbroken' for Angelina Jolie

by Ethan Anderton
February 25, 2013
Source: THR

As we wait for the next directorial effort from Joel and Ethan Coen to hit theaters sometime this year after CBS Films acquired it earlier this month, the brothers will keep busy as a writing duo again. The two scripted the remake of Gambit, and now THR reports the Coen Brothers will rewriter the adaptation of Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand's book of the same name, which has Angelina Jolie attached to direct. The project set up at Universal follows Olympian Louis Zamperini who became a prisoner of war in World War II after his plane crashed in the Pacific, forcing him to endure near starvation and dehydration, shark attacks, enemy fighters and more for 47 days. And that's just the beginning of his struggles. More below!

After barely surviving all those elements, Zamperini washed on the shore of a Japanese island behind enemy lines and was held prisoner for two years, tortured by his captors. This sounds like an Oscar winning drama in the making, especially since the Coens have been nominated for writing several times in the past. Mix that with Jolie's promising directing career, and a good cast should come running to get this project off the ground. This is especially intriguing since Joel and Ethan rarely take on writing assignments that they don't intend to direct themselves. We're anxious to see how this project develops so stay tuned.

Filed under Development, Movie News

From around the web:

Cody W

Coen brothers + WW2....*Crosses off bucket list*
- Xerxexx
  
  Agreed.
Xerxexx

YES.
dave

Suspect hubby Brad Pitt played a big role here. The story sounds very similar to the Coen's passion project TO THE WHITE SEA, which they could never get off the ground and that was set to star Pitt in the lead though largely dialogue-free role. Sounds like Unbroken might give them the chance to resurrect that project in some way. Wouldn't have been too big a sell for Pitt.
trojan8

zamperini was a guest speaker in my sports class last year. there was a cool short documentary where he talked about what he went through: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txlt9ij7UJM (documentary starts at 9:52 and is around 40 minutes long). my teacher mentioned that a movie about his life was being made. can't wait to see this
zey

*fingers crossed for the Coen Bros getting so inspired by the rewrite that they take over directorial duties as well*
nha

I wonder if they are fast forwarding this now that another film with a guy in a raft has done so well?