Coens to direct 'Yiddish Policemen's Union'

Joel and Ethan Coen have signed on to write and direct The Yiddish Policemen's Union for Columbia Pictures, reports Variety.

The story takes place in Alaska where Jewish settlers find themselves under pressure from the US government to turn their land over to Alaskan natives. The main protagonist is a renegade police officer investigating the death of a chess prodigy.

The film will be based on Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

The Coen brothers will move onto the project once they have completed work on George Clooney spy comedy Burn After Reading and A Serious Man.

The Coens recently won the best director gong at the BAFTAs for No Country For Old Men. The film has also picked up eight Academy Award nominations.