Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Coen brothers have written and directed films like True Grit and No Country For Old Men

The Coen brothers are to make their first television series, which will be called The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Variety reports that Joel and Ethan Coen will write and direct the show, which will be set in the Old West.

The scope of the programme, which is likely to be a mini-series, is reported to have been too ambitious to be covered in one feature film.

Westerns are familiar territory for The Coens, who have previously made True Grit and No Country For Old Men.

While this will be their first original TV series, they were credited as executive producers on the TV adaptation of their 1996 film Fargo.

American Hustle producer Megan Ellison and Annapurna Television's president of television Sue Neagle will serve as executive producers on The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

The Coen brothers said in a statement: "We are very excited to be working with Megan and Sue on this project."

The duo are the latest Hollywood names to venture into television. Silver Linings Playbook director David O Russell is developing a series for Amazon, which will star Julianne Moore and Robert De Niro.

Last month, it was announced that Julia Roberts would star in her first TV series - an adaptation of Today Will Be Different by novelist Maria Semple.

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