Padilha and writer Nick Schenk (Gran Torino) are collaborating on a film called Tri-Border, about the dangerous, crime-ridden border area between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. The two of them are doing research there now. Hopefully they’ve got a RoboGuard or something with them. The script follows a Boston-born DEA agent who’s forced to go to Tri-Borderville, in order to track down a top drug dealer.

Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal were prepping a thriller for a year called Triple Frontier, about the same location. However, they also had a project in storage about some guy named Osama bin Laden, which for some mysterious reason has taken precedence for them now. (Hollywood Reporter)

UPDATE: Variety is now reporting that the narrative concerns black ops and is based on a true story that has appeared in printed form. The pic does not, as previously indicated, directly revolve around Osama bin Laden.

Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) might have Public Enemy Number One in her sights for her next project. No, she isn’t working on a Cat Stevens biopic with Osama bin Laden – the as-yet-untitled low-budget black ops thriller that’s been reported on earlier might center around efforts to nab Osama.

This isn’t the only project on Bigelow’s plate, though. She’s also working on Triple Frontier, which is set to begin shooting sometime this year. The jury’s out on which of these projects is actually going to be released first. Since the black-ops bin Laden movie is reportedly a small, low-budget affair, it might get banged out before the larger Triple Frontier, or it might be serving as a tentative back-up plan in case the bigger project falls through or is delayed. Either way, a movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden is sure to be controversial, although in the case of war movies like The Hurt Locker, controversy doesn’t always translate to box office success. The prospect of seeing Sam Worthington or somebody spit out a witty one-liner before shooting Osama in the face might be enough to break some box office records, though. Free suggestion re: one-liner – “Where you’re going, you won’t have Been Laid In a very long time!” Send my residual checks to Screen Junkies. (SlashFilm)

Kathryn Bigelow will have to wait longer than planned to tactfully ask Triple Frontier‘s make-up stylist to apply extra powder to Tom Hanks‘s giant forehead. That project has encountered complications and will be pushed back to Fall 2011. Well, she ain’t just going to sit on her hands. This is Kathryn Bigelow we’re talking about here. If she wants to film an international thriller, she’s going to film a damn international thriller. So, in the meantime, up next for Bigelow is a smaller “international thriller.”

The project name hasn’t been released yet but the story is reported to be based on a true story centering around black ops. Not to be confused with Bad Boys, which centered around black cops. (Variety)

Hollywood’s nicest man is heading for a part of the world that is anything but. Tom Hanks has been cast in Triple Frontier, which takes place in one of South America’s most dangerous regions. And that really means something, considering South America has more than its fair share of dangerous regions.

The film, the follow-up from The Hurt Locker director and writer Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, is an ensemble picture set in the notorious border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil where the Igazu and Parana rivers converge — making “la triple frontera” difficult to monitor and a haven for organized crime.

So far, Hanks is the only confirmed cast member, and I’m assuming he will play a law enforcement official. Also, there are rumors that the title will be changed to Sleeping Dogs. If these rumors prove true, could we be looking at the long-awaited followup to Turner and Hooch? We’ve got a possible cop, and the word “dogs” in the title, so all signs point to yes. (Coming Soon)