Jacques Audiard, the Palme D’Or–winning French filmmaker, is slated to direct the adaptation of Patrick deWitt’s 2011 novel, The Sisters Brothers (House of Anansi Press).

The project will be Audiard’s first English-language film, and will star Oscar-nominated actor John C. Reilly, who also owns the production company that optioned the title.

The western tale follows the travels of two brothers hired to kill a man suspected of stealing from their boss during the California gold rush. It was awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

DeWitt’s third novel, Undermajordomo Minor, will be published on Sept. 5.