Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist network al-Qaeda, after the September 11 attacks, which culminates in the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the U.S. military raid where bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011. It stars Jessica Chastain as Maya, a fictional CIA intelligence analyst, with Jason Clarke and Joel Edgerton appearing in supporting roles.
Widely released on January 11, 2013, by Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label, following its premiere in Los Angeles on December 10, 2012, Zero Dark Thirty received critical acclaim for its acting, direction, screenplay, sound design, and editing, and was a box office success, grossing $132 million worldwide. It appeared on 95 critics' top ten lists of 2012 and received 5 nominations at the 85th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress for Chastain, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Editing, which it won in a tie with Skyfall (which Sony also distributed); it also earned four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) for Chastain, who won. Conversely, the film was accused of being pro-torture by U.S. senators John McCain, Dianne Feinstein, and Carl Levin.
