Columbia Pictures has just landed the rights to the best-selling Michael Chabon novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union. According to Variety, the new project will be written and directed by the Coen brothers, who will also produce the film with Scott Rudin.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a story where Jewish settlers are about to be displaced by the U.S. government's plans to turn the frozen locale of Sitka, Alaska, over to Alaskan natives. Against this backdrop is a noir-style murder mystery in which a rogue cop investigates the killing of a heroin-addicted chess prodigy who might be the messiah.

Columbia pictures has not announced when production for The Yiddish Policemen's Union will begin.