Kathryn Bigelow Hunts Down Bin Laden In ZERO DARK THIRTY Trailer

Last night's episode of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom (one of the better ones to date) centered around the night that Seal Team Six infiltrated Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and executed the architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, thus ending a manhunt that lasted for almost a full decade.  As President Obama's televised address played over the episode's closing credits, I couldn't help but think back upon my own experience that night, namely that I almost slept through it.  I was getting ready for bed after a very long day of working retail and happened to see some tweets saying that the President was about to address the nation about a matter of national security.  I'll therefore always remember that night as the first time I learned about a major world event solely through Twitter.

As it happens, today Sony released the first teaser for Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow's followup to The Hurt Locker.  The film, which depicts the long running attempt to bring America's terrorist enemy-number-one to justice, has already seen its share of controversy.  Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal were already well into pre-production when Bin Laden was killed last May, and therefore reworked the story in the wake of that announcement.  As with just about any movie which depicts the military (including stuff like Battleship and Transformers) the production worked with the Defense Department and in this case the CIA in order to achieve a level of realism as well as respect for those who serve in uniform.  However, conservatives like Rep. Peter King of NY are convinced that the Obama administration turned over classified intelligence to Bigelow and Boal in an effort to turn the film into some kind of propaganda piece that might influence the upcoming Presidential elections.  While the filmmaker's were granted access to certain facilities and information that has not been disclosed to the public, current Secretary of Defense and former CIA Director Leon Panetta has testified before Congress that no unauthorized information was leaked to the filmmakers.  As far as the film being some sort of Obama love-fest, he says that the President is not even depicted in the movie, which won't hit theaters until December, long after the last ballot has been cast.

While there isn't a whole lot to see in this first trailer, I'm a fan of Bigelow as a filmmaker and I'm more than a tad curious to see what she's cooked up here.  She's also got an amazing cast that includes Jessica Chastain and Kyle Chandler (the only two faces I could pick out of the trailer) as well as Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Stephen Dillane, Mark Duplass and Chris Pratt.

I don't know what I love more, a movie about the hunt for Bin Laden starring Pete from The League and Andy from Parks & Rec, or a movie about the hunt for Bin Laden from the director of Point Break.  How is it possible that we got both AT THE SAME TIME?