Top Hollywood teams eager to make movie on the story of Bowe Bergdahl

The Oscar-winning team behind The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, are planning a movie on freed US prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl.

Deadline.com reports that the project is one of two competing proposed films about the United States army sergeant, who was held prisoner by the Taliban for five years after leaving his base in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl was released in May in exchange for five members of the Taliban who were being held at Guantanamo Bay. His capture and release have been a source of controversy in the US, with some critics labelling him a deserter.

On Monday, the US army said it had begun investigating the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and capture, adding that these investigations "are not uncommon". Major General Kenneth Dahl leads the investigation.

A separate movie about Bergdahl is reportedly being put together by three-time Oscar nominee Todd Field, the director of In the Bedroom and Little Children, based on a Rolling Stone article by the late investigative reporter Michael Hastings.

However, the high-profile nature of Bigelow and Boal's team may make it difficult for other film-makers to win backing for their plans.