Sony likely won’t be releasing Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal’s untitled project about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden before the 2012 Presidential election as planned.
Originally skedded to launch Oct. 12, the studio said it will definitely move the film — but is considering a few different options as to when.
But why? Sony moved its Kevin James-comedy “Here Comes the Boom” from a summer berth to Oct. 12, meaning the studio would have two films on that date. As to political reasons, it’s not known how much (if at all) the film’s storyline is a motivation.
In August, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) called for an investigation into the Obama administration’s cooperation with Bigelow and Boal’s project, citing New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s column saying Bigelow received “top-level access to the most classified mission in history.” Dowd also noted that the pic, detailing one of the administration’s big successes, would be released just weeks before the election.
The White House, along with Bigelow and Boal, denied that the project was getting favored treatment, calling the operation “an American triumph, both heroic and non-partisan … (with) no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise.”
Bigelow and Boal have been developing the project for nearly a year, beginning even before a team of Navy SEALS shot and killed Bin Laden in May, forcing Boal to rewrite the third act of his script.
Sony said it expects to make a decision regarding the date within the next few weeks.
