tumblr_maxgv1PNRl1r4ly8qo1_400Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is the most lethal sniper in American military history, a man who went through some very serious shit during the Iraq war before returning to the US to run a private security and military training firm. He wrote an autobiography called American Sniper, and the adaptation of that book has just been confirmed as Steven Spielberg’s next project.

Returning from the trenches of the wars of previous centuries, Spielberg will again go to war, telling Kyle’s story, which includes accumulating 160 confirmed sniper kills and surviving 6 separate IED attacks. Kyle’s story is a tragic one though- he was murdered by a fellow veteran at a gun range earlier this year for reasons unknown.

Bradley Cooper is already set to play Chris Kyle.

This is a very interesting project for Spielberg to get involved in as our country debates with itself about our relationship with guns. More than even most military figures, Kyle represents a man with a very tuned, ap_ht_chris_kyle_eddie_ray_routh_jt_130203_wgspecific symbiosis with a gun, who brought that expertise home, and who was brought down in a situation rife with sad  irony. He was a Texan- the kind of sharply cut man that screams the traditional southern “American Boy.”

Spielberg’s agenda and endgame are going to be heavily questioned on this one, and the man is not typically subtle about his sentimentalities. It makes me wonder what shit-storm is ahead. Consider the deliberate, journalistic detachment of even Kathryn Bigelow’s films in this arena and how swiftly the conversation turned poisonous around her. After all that and with things the way they are, Spielberg’s got balls at least.

 

Source | THR