The fact Kathryn Bigelow has boobs means her career as an action director has been far more of a struggle than it ever ought to have been. Any minor misstep has been greeted by the industry as a sign that the problem was her gender rather anything else (men get a second chance, women don’t), and so she’s had great trouble getting movies made, despite being incredibly talented.
However she’s currently back on top following the success of The Hurt Locker, which seems almost guaranteed to give her a Best Director Oscar nomination (and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that she might win, making her the first female director ever to pick up the award).
It also means that she currently has a lot of options about what she wants to do next. Production Weekly is suggesting that her next film will be Held By The Taliban, based on David Rohde’s series of articles in the NY Times. Rohde detailed his experience of being kidnapped while on his way to interview a Taliban commander in Afghanistan. He was held for over seven months, coming to learn a lot more about the Taliban, their aims and motivation, while living in constant fear for his life.
It could certainly make a fascinating movie, and as Bigelow is the first director to have made a really successful Iraq movie, she’d seem a good choice for this film as well. The film is very early in development, so don’t expect it anytime soon.