I would say the body of Osama bin Laden is still warm, but US officials assure us it’s awfully wet and lodged down the bottom of a river somewhere.
Regardless, it seems rather early to be discussing movies about his life, but that was exactly what transpired yesterday when Variety confirmed that an upcoming film to be directed by The Hurt Locker’s Oscar-winning Kathryn Bigelow (pictured above) will incorporate this week’s Pakistani compound firefight that resulted in the terrorist leader being shot and killed.
Production of the film, which focuses on US operatives’ ten year hunt for bin Laden, was announced late last year, so it’s obviously not a response to recent events. Former investigative journalist Mark Boal (also pictured above), who wrote The Hurt Locker, is currently working on an untitled screenplay.
As Variety’s Justin Kroll observed, bin Laden’s death was well-timed in terms of the film production. Had it occurred during the shoot, the production would’ve been sent into disarray. It’s quite possible, however — maybe, maybe, maybe possible — that being helpful to Hollywood was not a thought running the heads of the American operatives when they stormed the compound or of bin Laden when he took his last breath.
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.