Director Kathryn Bigelow’s planned hunt-for-Osama Bin Laden film may have its release pushed back from its current October 12, 2012 date to after the November 6 presidential election.
Deadline, who is reporting the possible move, gives no specifics as to why the move may happen but does state that if it does happen it would not be able to give a potential last minute boost to President Obama’s re-election campaign “by reminding voters his administration caught and killed the Al-Qaeda leader.”
Prior to the May 1st raid in which members of Seal Team Six killed the terrorist leader in a compound in Pakistan, Bigelow and her writing and producing partner Mark Boal had been working on a project that tracked an earlier attempt to hunt down and kill Bin Laden. Some quick reworking of the project and the pair were able to sell it a few weeks later at auction at the Cannes Film Festival to Sony.
More recently, though, the film came under fire when a New York Times article stated that Bigelow and Boal had received still classified information about the raid for the script. The filmmakers have denied the accusations while the White House dismissed the claim as “ridiculous.” That hasn’t stopped Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Congressman Peter King to request an investigation into the matter.
I leave it to you to decide if the film’s original release date position ahead of the Presidential Election had anything to do with the complaint from King, a Republican. However, it should be noted that the military has cooperated with filmmakers numerous times in the past on such films as Top Gun and Pearl Harbor with virtually no repercussions ever. Next February will see the release of Acts Of Valor, which will feature actual Navy Seals recreating one of their missions. King has so far not expressed any concern over that film.
