Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) are shopping an international thriller that they plan to shoot before going into production on Triple Frontier.  According to Variety, the indie project would "concern black ops and is based on a true story that has appeared in printed form."  It could be based on David Rohde’s series of articles for The New York Times, Held by the Taliban.  However, at least as it really happened, that story didn't involve "black ops".  Rather, Rhodes and two Afghan colleagues were taken to a tribal region in the northwest region of Pakistan and managed to stage an escape.  While Boal has yet to write the script, it's possible his and Bigelow's pitch weaves black ops into the story.

For more details on how this project affects Triple Frontier, hit the jump.

The indie hasn't derailed Triple Frontier, which is still set for a fall 2011 start date with Tom Hanks attached to play one of the lead roles.  As we previously reported, Johnny Depp is interested in playing another of the leads, but Variety reports that he's decided to do Tim Burton's Dark Shadows as his next film.  However, since Shadows is scheduled to shoot in April, it's still possible for Depp to possibly do Triple Frontier depending on how the scheduling for The Lone Ranger shakes out.

But by doing the smaller movie first, Bigelow and Boal have more time to work out the scheduling and negotiations for Triple Frontier.  With Bigelow's post-Hurt Locker pedigree, I have no doubt believing that she'll nab a killer cast for both of her future projects.