The last time the Coen brothers attempted a remake, we ended up with Tom Hanks twiddling his moustache in the distinctly average Ladykillers update. Let’s hope it’s second time lucky then, with Joel and Ethan having mined another classic from yesteryear in the form of seminal John Wayne western True Grit.

Wayne starred as ageing badass Rooster Cogburn in Henry Hathaway’s 1969 revenge drama, aiming his six-shooter at the villainous but stellar support of Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. Paunchy, washed-up and missing an eye, Cogburn bagged Wayne his one and only Oscar. “If I'd known that,” he quipped at the ceremony, “I'd have put that patch on 35 years earlier.”

Adapted from Charles Portis’ novel of the same name, the film is prone to the odd whiff of ham, with country and western crooner Glen Campbell co-starring with mixed results and Wayne cranking his tough-guy swagger up to eleven. Critics at the time even went as far to suggest that Wayne’s Oscar win was the product of sentimental Academy voting, awarded in recognition of his career rather than this specific performance.

That said, it is still a much-loved entry to the genre, and one that will inevitably provoke a strong response if the Coens get it wrong. So what exactly have they got themselves into?