Bigelow and Boal: Call on Sony to Postpone Release of Bin Laden Film Until After Election

The filmmakers of the upcoming movie about the pursuit and capture of Osama bin Laden, set to open in the heat of the 2012 campaign season, released the following statement claiming that the film is “non-partisan”:

Our upcoming film project about the decade long pursuit of Bin Laden has been in the works for many years and integrates the collective efforts of three administrations, including those of Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, as well as the cooperative strategies and implementation by the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency. Indeed, the dangerous work of finding the world’s most wanted man was carried out by individuals in the military and intelligence communities who put their lives at risk for the greater good without regard for political affiliation. This was an American triumph, both heroic, and non-partisan and there is no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise.

So the “Obama Got Osama” film is not meant to boost the re-election chances of our beleaguered president?

Prove it.

If the slated Oct. 12, 2012 release date is merely a coincidence–as the statement suggests–or solely based on opening the film during “Oscar season” (which runs through December and even into early January), surely those responsible for the film will agree that it is obscene to politicize the triumph of our most heroic Americans by unnecessarily injecting them into the election cycle against their will.

So, we call on Oscar winning director, Kathryn Bigelow, and Oscar winning screenwriter, Mark Boal, to formally ask Sony Pictures to release the bin Laden film in late December — long after the 2012 election season is over, long after the film itself and the publicity surrounding it can have any kind of impact.

It’s their movie, they have expressed what sounds like a sincere desire to create a “non-partisan project,” and now is their chance to ensure that’s the case.

Whatever the final outcome of the film, the current release date taints every frame of it. This is their opportunity to remove that taint.