Kathryn Bigelow moving forward with Osama bin Laden thriller

Oscar winner's story will focus on Black Ops team pursuit of now deceased terrorist leader

By David Germain (AP) Tuesday, May 3, 2011 1:45 AM

Kathryn Bigelow on the set of her Oscar winning best picture "The Hurt Locker."

Credit: Summit Entertainment

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The filmmakers behind the war-on-terror drama "The Hurt Locker" are moving forward with an action thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have had the bin Laden project in the works, and now that the al-Qaeda leader has been killed, a person close to the filmmakers said Monday that the film is more relevant than ever.

The as-yet-untitled film will center on the Black Ops pursuit of bin Laden, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk about the project's status.

U.S. forces have hunted bin Laden since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly 10 years ago. A team of Navy SEALs shot and killed bin Laden early Monday at a compound in Pakistan.

Bigelow declined to comment about the project, according to Susan Ciccone, a spokeswoman for the director.

"The Hurt Locker," which centered on a U.S. bomb-disposal unit in Iraq, won best picture at the Academy Awards last year and earned the best-directing Oscar for Bigelow, the first woman to receive that honor.

The film won a total of six Oscars, including the prize for original screenplay for Boal.