After Kathryn Bigelow (hopefully) becomes the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director this year, she could easily choose any project to do as a follow-up to her very, very, very acclaimed Iraq War film "The Hurt Locker." According to Production Weekly, via a Tweet, she has already selected her next film.
The director will next tackle an adaptation of journalist David Rohde's six-part account in the New York Times of his seven months as a hostage in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The series is collectively titled "Held by the Taliban."
Bigelow, who I don't expect to win a Golden Globe this Sunday but do predict to take home the Directors Guild Award on January 30, has never been a big box office earner. Even her most popular movie, "Point Break," did only so-so business back in 1991. "The Hurt Locker" is her most well-received film -- deservedly so -- but it still has made less than $15 million in the U.S. And yet with all the awards the film is garnering, Hollywood would surely wish to woo her for something a little more blockbuster than this.
Like Iraq War films, movies about the conflict in Afghanistan/Pakistan are traditionally box office poison (let's not count "Iron Man"). Not even Angelina Jolie could get people to see "A Mighty Heart," which was also about a journalist held captive in the area. Unlike that film, Rohde's story has a relatively happy ending (this isn't a spoiler since he lived to report on it), and audiences might be more willing to see a movie featuring an escape from captivity. Not that such a premise helped the Vietnam-set "Rescue Dawn" a few years back.
I'll certainly be in line for "Taliban." After the intense action and suspense of "The Hurt Locker" (I can't believe more action movie fans haven't flocked to it), I'd follow Bigelow to any kind of follow-up. And if she's able to keep this new film as apolitical and character-focused as her last, it should elevate our already-high esteem for her as one of the best filmmakers out there.
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