9/11 directly led into the War on Terror, which shifted the world's focus to the Middle East. And, as you'd expect, Hollywood followed. Obviously you get films like The Kingdom or The Hurt Locker, which explore conventional stories (CIA thriller and the horrors of war respectively) in a Middle Eastern setting, but with those there's an argument for relevance; there's plenty of totally unrelated films that use this location. Look at Body Of Lies, one of the few bad marks on Leonardo DiCaprio's filmography, which takes the usual conspiracy story and puts in in Jordan because relevance. Iron Man, a character who was initially conceived to reflect the political situation of the Cold War, found his origin story transplanted to Afghanistan, with a al-Qaeda-esque terrorist group holding him hostage. Even though it turns out they're actually part of a more Americanised plot, the influences are clear; Iron Man turning up and blowing up all their weapons is essentially cinematic retribution for attack America. It's natural for films to follow the news, but this is still a shift in focus heavily influenced by 9/11.
