The owner of the world's only Best Director Academy Award given to a woman, Bigelow is bound to come up any time a studio considers opting for a female director. Of course, it helps in this instance that Bigelow particularly specialises in action thrillers, ranging from the big, dumb and silly Point Break to the gritty contemporary realism of The Hurt Locker. She knows how to structure an action movie and knows how to put together a memorable action sequence. Her last two movies were both big successes, so she would be coming into any project she takes next on a high. Both The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty were nominated for or won Oscars, Golden Globes, Baftas and all manner of critics circles' awards for directing, so there's no doubt Bigelow would be an impressive directorial choice for Warner and DC. While she has been linked with another film based on the current Middle East conflict, a story about former Taliban captive Bowe Bergdahl, a blockbuster project like Wonder Woman could represent an interesting change of pace. As a director Bigelow is most associated with movies about male characters and themes of masculinity and that may count against her working on Wonder Woman, although it should be noted that Zero Dark Thirty, her most recent and highest grossing film, had a female protagonist. Bigelow is also not a commercial sure thing. Her two biggest budget movies, Strange Days and K-19: The Widowmaker, were both big commercial failures, while The Hurt Locker is by a considerable margin the lowest grossing Best Picture winner. So, her choice may represent more of a financial risk than it initially seems.
