It may be time to start getting excited about The Sisters Brothers, John C. Reilly’s upcoming adaptation of Patrick DeWitt’s Western dark comedy. Joaquin Phoenix is now flirting with joining Reilly in the film, obviously as the second brother.
If you’re unaware of The Sisters Brothers, here’s the book’s synopsis:
Patrick deWitt, a young writer whose “stop-you-in-your-tracks writing has snuck up on the world” (Los Angeles Times), brings us The Sisters Brothers, a darkly comic, outrageously inventive novel that offers readers a decidedly off-center view of the Wild, Wild West. Set against the back-drop of the great California Gold Rush, this odd and wonderful tour de force at once honors and reshapes the traditional western while chronicling the picaresque misadventures of two hired guns, the fabled Sisters brothers. The most original western since the Coen Brothers re-interpreted True Grit—you’ve never met anyone quite like The Sisters Brothers.
The story sounds fascinating and incredibly cinematic. Phoenix isn’t confirmed for the role, but let’s all hold out hope. The Sisters Brothers will also be directed by Jacques Audiard, the visionary behind 2009’s thriller A Prophet and 2012’s Rust and Bone. This has potential to be something great, and Phoenix and Reilly sound like a perfect match.
