The Coen Brothers Team Up With Angelina Jolie

Writers/Producers/Directors/Brothers Ethan and Joel Coen are joining Angelina Jolie for ‘Unbroken’, an upcoming feature based upon Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 novel.

Universal procured the rights to the book at the beginning of 2011, with the intention that Francis Lawrence would direct. The film swapped helmers in December, however, when Jolie was announced as Lawrence’s replacement. William Nicholson and Richard LaGravanese worked on previous drafts of the screenplay, but apparently Jolie has been searching for weeks to find just the right writers to see the project to completion. Enter the Coen brothers.

The Academy Award-winning duo, responsible for ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘Fargo’ will pen the story of Lou Zamperini, a Los Angeles high school track star who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

“In 1942, his Air Force plane crashed in the Pacific. He survived without food and water for 47 days, enduring shark attacks, aerial attacks and hunger before washing ashore on a Japanese island behind enemy lines, where he was held as a prisoner of war for two years and tortured by his captors,” explains The Hollywood Reporter.

Jolie is producing with Matthew Baer and Erwin Stoff.