American Sniper (DVD)

American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It is loosely based on the memoir American Sniper (2012) by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The film follows the life of Kyle, who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense. Although Kyle was celebrated for his military successes, his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life. The film was produced by Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, and Peter Morgan. It stars Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya, with Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Kevin Lacz, Navid Negahban, and Keir O Donnell in supporting roles.

The world premiere was on November 11, 2014, at the American Film Institute Festival, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 2014, and a wide release on January 16, 2015. The film became a major success, with a worldwide gross of over $547 million, making it the 13th most successful film at the 2014 worldwide box office, the highest-grossing war film of all time unadjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing film with a wide release during the month of January, and Eastwood s highest-grossing film.

The film received positive reviews, with praise for Cooper s lead performance and Eastwood s directing. At the 87th Academy Awards, American Sniper received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Cooper, ultimately winning one award for Best Sound Editing.

Plot

Growing up in Texas, Chris Kyle is taught by his father how to shoot a rifle and hunt deer. Years later, Kyle has become a ranch hand and rodeo cowboy, and returns home early, to find his girlfriend in bed with another man. After telling her to leave, he is mulling it over with his brother when he sees news coverage of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings and decides to enlist in the Navy. He qualifies for special training and becomes a sniper with the U.S. Navy SEALs.

Kyle meets Taya Studebaker at a bar, and the two soon marry. He is sent to Iraq after the September 11 attacks. His first kills are a woman and boy who attacked U.S. Marines on patrol with a Russian-made RKG-3 anti-tank grenade. Kyle is visibly upset by the experience, but later earns the nickname Legend for his many kills. Assigned to hunt for the al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Kyle interrogates a family whose father offers to lead the SEALs to The Butcher , al-Zarqawi s second-in-command. The plan goes awry when The Butcher captures the father and his son, killing them while Kyle is pinned down by a sniper. This sniper goes by the name Mustafa and is an Olympic Games medalist from Syria. Meanwhile, the insurgents issue a bounty on Kyle.

Kyle returns home to his wife and the birth of his son. He is distracted by memories of his war experiences and by Taya s concern for them as a couple – she wishes he would focus on his home and family.

Kyle leaves for a second tour and is promoted to chief petty officer. Involved in a shootout with The Butcher, he helps in killing him. When he returns home to a newborn daughter, Kyle becomes increasingly distant from his family. On Kyle s third tour, Mustafa seriously injures a unit member, Ryan Biggles Job, and the unit is evacuated back to base. When they decide to return to the field and continue the mission, another SEAL, Marc Lee, is killed by gunfire.

Guilt compels Kyle to undertake a fourth tour, and Taya tells him she may not be there when he returns. Back in Iraq, Kyle is shocked to learn Biggles died in surgery to repair the wounds he sustained. Assigned to kill Mustafa, who has been sniping U.S. Army combat engineers building a barricade, Kyle s sniper team is placed on a rooftop inside enemy territory. Kyle spots Mustafa and takes him out with a risky long distance shot at 2,100 yards (1,920 m), but this exposes his team s position to numerous armed insurgents. In the midst of the gunfight, and low on ammunition, Kyle tearfully calls Taya and tells her he is ready to come home. A sandstorm provides cover for a chaotic escape in which Kyle is injured and almost left behind.

After Kyle gets back, on edge and unable to adjust fully to civilian life, he is asked by a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist if he is haunted by all the things he did in war. When he replies it is all the guys couldn t save that haunt him, the psychiatrist encourages him to help severely wounded veterans in the VA hospital. After that, Kyle gradually begins to adjust to home life.

Years later, on February 2, 2013, Kyle says goodbye to his wife and family as he leaves in good spirits to spend time with Eddie Ray Routh, a veteran suffering from PTSD at a shooting range. An on-screen subtitle reveals that Kyle was killed that day by Routh, followed by archive footage of crowds standing along the highway for his funeral procession. More are shown attending his memorial service.

Cast

• Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle
• Sienna Miller as Taya Kyle
• Luke Grimes as Marc Lee
• Jake McDorman as Ryan Biggles Job
• Cory Hardrict as D / Dandridge
• Kevin Dauber Lacz as himself
• Navid Negahban as Sheikh Al-Obodi
• Keir O Donnell as Jeff Kyle
• Kyle Gallner as Goat-Winston
• Sam Jaeger as Captain Martens
• Sammy Sheik as Mustafa, a character partially based on Iraqi sniper Juba
• Mido Hamada as The Butcher , a character possibly based on Abu Deraa
• Eric Close as DIA Agent Snead
• Eric Ladin as Squirrel
• Ben Reed as Wayne Kyle
• Brian Hallisay as Captain Gillespie
• Tim Griffin as Colonel Gronski
• Chance Kelly as Lt. Colonel Jones
• Elise Robertson as Deby Kyle
• Marnette Patterson as Sara
• Cole Konis as Young Chris Kyle
• Leonard Roberts as Instructor Rolle
• Luke Sunshine as Young Jeff Kyle
• Max Charles as Colton Kyle
• Troy Vincent as Pastor
• Vincent Selhorst-Jones as Eddie Ray Routh

Production

Development

On May 24, 2012, it was announced that Warner Bros. (WB) had acquired the rights to the book with Bradley Cooper set to produce and star in the screen adaptation. Cooper had thought of Chris Pratt to play Kyle, but WB agreed to buy it only if Cooper would star. In September 2012, David O. Russell said he was interested in directing the film. On February 2, 2013, Chris Kyle was murdered. On May 2, 2013, it was announced that Steven Spielberg would direct. Spielberg had read Kyle s book, though he desired to have a more psychological conflict present in the screenplay so an enemy sniper character could serve as the insurgent sharpshooter who was trying to track down and kill Kyle. Spielberg s ideas contributed to the development of a lengthy screenplay approaching 160 pages. Due to WB s budget constraints, Spielberg felt he could not bring his vision of the story to the screen. On August 5, 2013, Spielberg dropped out of directing. On August 21, 2013, it was reported that Clint Eastwood would instead direct the film.

Casting

On March 14, 2014, Sienna Miller joined the cast. On March 16, 2014, Kyle Gallner was cast, as was Cory Hardrict on March 18, 2014. On March 20, 2014, Navid Negahban, Eric Close, Eric Ladin, Rey Gallegos, and Jake McDorman also joined the cast, as did Luke Grimes and Sam Jaeger on March 25, 2014. Kevin Lacz, a former Navy SEAL, was also cast and served as a technical advisor. Another former Navy SEAL, Joel Lambert, also joined the film, portraying a Delta sniper. On June 3, Max Charles was added to the cast to portray Kyle s son, Colton Kyle.

Filming

Principal photography began on March 31, 2014 in Los Angeles; it was also shot in Morocco. On April 23, the Los Angeles Times reported that ten days of filming set in an Afghan village was set to begin at the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in the Santa Clarita area. On May 7, shooting of the film was spotted around El Centro; a milk factory was used as the abandoned date factory which insurgents close in on from all directions at the climax of the film. The pier and bar scenes were filmed in Seal Beach, California.

Cinematographer Tom Stern shot the film with Arri Alexa XT digital cameras and Panavision C-, E- and G-Series anamorphic lenses. The film is Eastwood s second to be shot digitally, after Jersey Boys.

Music

There is no Music by credit on this film. Clint Eastwood, who has composed the scores for most of his films since Mystic River (2003), is credited as the composer of Taya s Theme . Joseph S. DeBeasi is credited as composer of additional music and as music editor. The film also features the song Someone Like You by Van Morrison, which plays during the wedding scene, and The Funeral by Ennio Morricone.

Reception

Box office

American Sniper grossed $350.1 million in North America and $197 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $547.1 million, against a budget of around $58 million. Calculating in all expenses and revenues, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $243 million, making it the second-most profitable film of 2014 only behind Paramount s Transformers: Age of Extinction. Worldwide, it is the highest-grossing war film of all time (breaking Saving Private Ryan s record) and Eastwood s highest-grossing film to date. It is the seventh R-rated film to gross over $500 million.

North America

In North America, it was the highest-grossing film of 2014, the highest-grossing war film unadjusted for inflation (and, on an adjusted basis, second to Saving Private Ryan with $379 million), the fourth-highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (behind The Passion of the Christ, Deadpool, and Deadpool 2), Warner Bros. fourth-highest-grossing film (behind The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2), and the eighth-highest-grossing Best Picture nominee film (behind Avatar, Titanic, Star Wars, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Toy Story 3, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers). It became the seventh Warner Bros. film to earn over $300 million in the U.S. and Canada and the 50th film to reach the mark. It earned as much as the combined earnings of all of the other 2014 Best Picture nominees. On March 8, 2015, it surpassed The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 to become the highest-grossing film of 2014, making it the first R-rated film since Saving Private Ryan (1998) and the first non-franchise film since Avatar (2009) to top the year-end rankings.

American Sniper premiered at the AFI Fest on November 11, 2014, just after a screening of Selma at Grauman s Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. In North America, the film opened to a limited release on December 25, 2014, playing at four theaters—two in New York, one in Los Angeles, and one in Dallas—and earned $610,000 in its opening weekend ($850,000 including Christmas Day) at an average of $152,500 per venue debuting at #22. The following week the film earned $676,909 playing at the same number of locations at an average of $169,277 per theater, which is the second-biggest weekend average ever for a live-action movie (previously held by 2001 s Moulin Rouge!). American Sniper holds the record for the most entries in the top 20 Top Weekend Theater Averages with 3 entries (at #12, #14 and #17). It earned a total of $3.4 million from limited release in three weekends.

The film began its wide debut across North American theaters on January 16, 2015 (Thursday night showings began at 7:00 pm). It set an all-time-highest Thursday night opening record for an R-rated drama with $5.3 million (previously held by Lone Survivor). The film topped the box office on its opening day grossing $30.5 million (including Thursday previews) from 3,555 theaters setting January records for both biggest debut opening (previously held by Cloverfield) and single-day gross (previously held by Avatar). In its traditional three-day opening the film earned $89.2 million which was double than expected and broke the record for the largest January opening (previously held by Ride Along) and the largest winter opening, which is also Eastwood s top opening as a director (breaking Gran Torino s opening). The three-day opening is also the biggest opening weekend for a drama film (previously held by The Passion of the Christ), the second-biggest debut for a Best Picture Oscar nominee (behind Toy Story 3), the second-biggest debut for an R-rated film (behind The Matrix Reloaded), and the third-biggest for a non-comic book, non-fantasy/sci-fi film (behind Furious 7 and Fast & Furious 6). It also set an IMAX January opening and single weekend record with $10.6 million (previously held by Avatar in its fourth weekend) and an R-rated IMAX debut record (previously held by Prometheus). It earned $107.2 million during its four-day Martin Luther King weekend setting a record for the biggest R-rated four-day gross.

In its second weekend, the film expanded to 3,705 theaters making it the second-widest launch for an R-rated movie (behind the film itself). It grossed an estimated $64.6 million in its second weekend, declining only by 28%—and set the record for the second-best hold ever for a movie opening to more than $85 million and also set the record for the eighth-largest second-weekend gross. In just 10 days of release, the film surpassed Pearl Harbor ($198.5 million) to become the second-highest-grossing war film in North America. By its second weekend, Box Office Mojo had already reported that the film was on poise to become the highest-grossing film of 2014 in North America, a record that was, at the time held by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($334 million), judging from its gradual decline and strong holdovers. It became the highest-grossing IMAX film of January grossing $18.8 million from 333 IMAX theaters. On Thursday, January 29, 2015–35 days after its initial release, the film surpassed Saving Private Ryan ($216.5 million) to become the highest-grossing war film in North America, unadjusted for inflation.

By its third weekend of wide release, the film expanded to 3,885 theaters (180 additional theaters added), breaking its own record of being the widest R-rated film ever released. The film topped the box office through its third weekend earning $30.66 million, which is the second-highest Super Bowl weekend gross (behind Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert). After topping the box office for three consecutive weekends, the film was overtaken by The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water in its fourth weekend.

Outside North America

The film had the biggest debut weekend for a Clint Eastwood film, and went on to become the director s top-grossing film of all time in each of the countries in which it was released. In Italy the film opened at number two with $7.1 million, Eastwood s best opening of all time, and Warner Bros. second-biggest opening for a non-franchise U.S. film there; it went on to top the box office the following weekend as well. Its other largest openings occurred in France ($6.3 million), where it topped the box office for four consecutive weekends, Australia ($4.3 million, $4.6 million including previews), the UK, Ireland and Malta ($3.8 million), Spain ($3.2 million), Japan ($2.8 million), Mexico ($2.6 million), Brazil ($1.8 million), and South Korea ($1.2 million). In total earnings, its largest market outside of the U.S. are Italy ($23 million) and France ($22.8 million).

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 72%, based on 294 reviews, with an average rating of 6.90/10. The website s critical consensus states, Powered by Clint Eastwood s sure-handed direction and a gripping central performance from Bradley Cooper, American Sniper delivers a tense, vivid tribute to its real-life subject. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews . In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, audiences gave American Sniper a rare grade of A+ on an A+ to F scale.

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called the film A taut, vivid and sad account of the brief life of the most accomplished marksman in American military annals. Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying: an excellent performance from a bulked-up Bradley Cooper, this harrowing and intimate character study offers fairly blunt insights into the physical and psychological toll exacted on the front lines . David Denby of The New Yorker gave the film a positive review, saying Both a devastating war movie and a devastating antiwar movie, a subdued celebration of a warrior s skill and a sorrowful lament over his alienation and misery. Keith Phipps of The Dissolve wrote that the film, while well made, missed a chance to explore the toll that such service exacts on soldiers. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C+, saying The film s just a repetition of context-free combat missions and one-dimensional targets. Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News gave the film four out of five stars, saying The best movies are ever-shifting, intelligent and open-hearted enough to expand alongside an audience. American Sniper ... is built on this foundation of uncommon compassion. Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film four out of four stars, saying After 40 years of Hollywood counterpropaganda telling us war is necessarily corrupting and malign, ... American Sniper nobly presents the case for the other side.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying Bradley Cooper, as Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and director Eastwood salute Kyle s patriotism best by not denying its toll. Their targets are clearly in sight, and their aim is true. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a B, saying American Sniper is imperfect and at times a little corny, but also ambivalent and complicated in ways that are uniquely Eastwoodian. James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying American Sniper lifts director Clint Eastwood out of the doldrums that have plagued his last few films. Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film three out of four stars, saying Cooper nails the role of an American killing machine in Clint Eastwood s clear-eyed look at the Iraq War. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, saying Eastwood s impeccably crafted action sequences so catch us up in the chaos of combat we are almost not aware that we re watching a film at all. Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film three out of four stars, saying It s clearly Cooper s show. Substantially bulked up and affecting a believable Texas drawl, Cooper embodies Kyle s confidence, intensity and vulnerability. Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York gave the film four out of five stars, saying Only Clint Eastwood could make a movie about an Iraq War veteran and infuse it with doubts, mission anxiety and ruination. Dean Obeidallah praised the film, saying His focus was not on whom we were fighting, but the unbearably high price Americans pay for waging war regardless of its target. The film is a cautionary tale for Americans about why we must avoid war. It is not a celebration of waging it.

The film drew some negative reviews. Matt Taibbi, in Rolling Stone, wrote that the movie turned the complicated moral questions and mass-bloodshed of the Iraq war into a black and white fairy tale, without presenting the historical context. Alex von Tunzelmann of The Guardian argued that the film presented a simplified black and white portrayal of the Iraq war, and that it features the distortion of facts into unreliable myths based upon previous legends. David Masciotra of Salon criticized the movie s focus on physical rather than moral courage as the ultimate manly virtue. Cavalry scout sniper Garett Reppenhagen stated that he did not view Iraqi civilians as savages, but as part of a friendly culture for which the movie has furthered ignorance, fear, and bigotry. Inkoo Kang of TheWrap gave the film a negative review, saying Director Clint Eastwood s focus on Kyle is so tight that no other character, including wife Taya (Sienna Miller), comes through as a person, and the scope so narrow that the film engages only superficially with the many moral issues surrounding the Iraq War. Several other articles have also been critical of the movie.

Cair s communications director Ibrahim Hooper wrote I think a lot of the controversy about the movie is not about its actual content, but more with the life and the views of the actual sniper, who had who had written a number derogatory things about Islam and Arabs ... so that seeps into it beyond even the content of the movie itself... This movie has elicited a wide variety of emotions from a kind of the super-patriotism reactions to the reaction that it perpetuates anti-Muslim stereotypes and even violence. So, there s a broad range of opinions about the movie and it s good to have those opinions aired and discussed.

Responding to critics, Eastwood said that American Sniper shows what does to the people left behind , and that presenting the fact of what does to the family and the people who have to go back into civilian life like Chris Kyle did is the biggest antiwar statement any film can make. He stated: One of my favorite war movies that I ve been involved with is Letters from Iwo Jima and that was about family, about being taken away from life, being sent someplace. In World War II, everybody just sort of went home and got over it. Now there is some effort to help people through it. He also said: I was a child growing up during World War II. That was supposed to be the one to end all wars. And four years later, I was standing at the draft board being drafted during the Korean conflict, and then after that there was Vietnam, and it goes on and on forever ... I just wonder ... does this ever stop? And no, it doesn t. So each time we get in these conflicts, it deserves a lot of thought before we go wading in or wading out. Going in or coming out. It needs a better thought process, I think.

Bradley Cooper stated that much of the criticism ignores that the film was about widespread neglect of returning veterans, and that people who take issue with Kyle should redirect their attention to the leaders who put the troops there in the first place. He said: We looked at hopefully igniting attention about the lack of care that goes to vets. discussion that has nothing to do with vets, or what we did or did not do, every conversation in those terms is moving farther and farther from what our soldiers go through, and the fact that 22 veterans commit suicide each day. Cooper said that an increasing number of soldiers are returning from conflict psychologically damaged, only to be more or less discarded.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Republican Party vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin also spoke out in support of the movie.

Prop baby

One aspect of the film that received negative comment was its use of a fake baby doll in one scene, which was said to look obviously artificial and that it was a distraction to critics and viewers. In at least one media screening of the film, the audience laughed out loud at how artificial the doll appeared. When discussing the film s prospects for winning an Academy Award, Fandango critic Dave Karger said, The reason why American Sniper is not going to win is because of the plastic baby. In The Telegraph, journalist Mark Harris said, That plastic baby is going to be rationalised by Eastwood auteur cultists until the end of days. In response, screenwriter Jason Hall replied, Hate to ruin the fun but real baby #1 showed up with a fever. Real baby #2 was no show. Gimme the doll, kid.

Top ten lists

American Sniper was listed on many critics top ten lists.

• 1st – Kyle Smith, New York Post
• 3rd – Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
• 6th – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
• 6th – James Verniere, Boston Herald
• 7th – James Berardinelli, Reelviews
• 7th – Lou Lumenick, New York Post
• 8th – Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly
• 9th – Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter
• 9th – Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
• 10th – Scott Foundas, Variety
• 10th – People
• Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – David Denby, The New Yorker
• Best of 2014 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
• Best of 2014 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Home media

American Sniper was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 19, 2015.

Upon its first week of release on home media in the U.S., the film topped both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, as well as the Blu-ray Disc sales chart in the week ending May 24, 2015.

Accolades

Organizations	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Academy Awards	Best Picture	Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan	Nominated
	Best Actor	Bradley Cooper	Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Jason Hall	Nominated
	Best Film Editing	Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach	Nominated
	Best Sound Editing	Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman	Won
	Best Sound Mixing	John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin	Nominated
Art Directors Guild Awards	Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film	James J. Murakami, Charisse Cardenas	Nominated
ACE Eddie Awards	Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic	Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach	Nominated
American Film Institute Awards 2014	Top Ten Films of the Year		Won
British Academy Film Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay	Jason Hall	Nominated
	Best Sound	Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman	Nominated
Cinema Audio Society Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action	Walt Martin, Gregg Rudloff, John Reitz, Robert Fernandez, Thomas J. O Connell, James Ashwell	Nominated
Critics Choice Award	Best Action Movie	American Sniper	Nominated
	Best Actor in an Action Movie	Bradley Cooper	Won
Denver Film Critics Society	Best Picture	American Sniper	Won
	Best Director	Clint Eastwood	Nominated
	Best Actor	Bradley Cooper (tied with Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel)	Won
	Best Supporting Actress	Sienna Miller	Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Jason Hall	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Tom Stern	Nominated
Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing – Feature Film	Clint Eastwood	Nominated
Empire Awards	Best Actor	Bradley Cooper	Nominated
Iowa Film Critics	Best Movie Yet to Open in Iowa	American Sniper (tied with A Most Violent Year)	Won
MPSE Golden Reel Awards	Feature English Language - Effects/Foley	Bub Asman, Alan Robert Murray	Won
MTV Movie Awards	Movie of the Year	American Sniper	Nominated
	Best Male Performance	Bradley Cooper	Won
National Board of Review	Top Ten Film		Won
	Best Director	Clint Eastwood	Won
Producers Guild of America Awards	Best Theatrical Motion Picture	Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Andrew Lazar, Robert Lorenz, Peter Morgan	Nominated
Satellite Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay	Jason Hall	Nominated
	Best Editing	Gary Roach and Joel Cox	Nominated
Saturn Awards	Best Thriller Film	American Sniper	Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay	Jason Hall	Nominated

Condition

New

Age Group

Adult

Format

DVD

Actor

Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Jason Dean Hall, Peter Morgan, Robert Lorenz

Publisher

Warnerbrothers

Published Date

2017

Brand

Warner Brothers

Rating MPA

R

Recording Studio

Warnerbrothers

Amazon ASIN

B073MDN9ND

UPC / EAN

883929602704

Year

2014

ReleaseDate

2015-01-16

RuntimeMins

133

RuntimeStr

2h 13min

Awards

Won 1 Oscar, 24 wins & 43 nominations total

Directors

Clint Eastwood

Writers

Jason Hall, Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen

Stars

Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner

Produced by

Zakaria Alaoui, Bruce Berman, Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Jason Hall, Sheroum Kim, Chris Kyle, Andrew Lazar, Robert Lorenz, Jessica Meier, Steven Mnuchin, Tim Moore, Peter Morgan, Kristina Rivera

Cinematography by

Tom Stern

Film Editing by

Joel Cox, Gary Roach

Casting By

Geoffrey Miclat

Production Design by

Charisse Cardenas, James J. Murakami

Art Direction by

Harry E. Otto, Rachid Quiat, Dean Wolcott

Set Decoration by

Gary Fettis

Costume Design by

Deborah Hopper

Makeup Department

Luisa Abel, Sonia Akouz, Khalid Alami, David LeRoy Anderson, Nezha Aouis, Gary Archer, Elena Arroy, Terry Baliel, Jessica Brooks, Salima Oulad Dahhou, Siham Ouled Dahhou, Patricia Dehaney, Audrey Doyle, Margaret E. Elliott, Ed French, Sven Granlund, Magen Grays, Edouard F. Henriques, Lorri Keefer-Smith, Lori McCoy-Bell, Matthew W. Mungle, Carol A. O'Connell, Koji Ohmura, Carol Pershing, Janeen Schreyer, Brian Waltsak, Jay Wejebe, Carol F. Doran, Clinton Wayne

Production Management

Holly Hagy, Tim Moore, Jason Pomerantz, Ravi D. Mehta

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Badr Balafrej, Ali Benchekroune, David M. Bernstein, Paula Case, Clark Credle, Yann Mari Faget, Ahmed Hatimi, Robert Lorenz, Andy Madden, Dodi Lee Rubenstein, Tara Nicole Tjahjadi, Khalil Zghayou

Art Department

Jeff Angelo, Todd Baranowski, Ray Barrett, Peter Borck, Max Bostic, Mark Boucher, Anthony Carlino, Lahcen Elyazidi, Marcus Epps, Judy Farr, Molly Hunter Flick, Sami Gaidi, Greg Gonzalez, Alan Gooch, Youssef Hajji, Curtis Hamill, Kendall Huberman, Abdenabi Izlaguen, Kevin Kalaba, Charles Kern, Helen Kozora, David Ladish, Martin Lane, Josh Lusby, Emil Malm, John Mann, John Micheletos, Christopher Morente, Mitch Naber, Rudy Oblak, Joe Ondrejko, Edward J. Protiva, Rachid Quiat, Bob Renna, Josue Rodriguez, Andres Sepulveda, Randy Severino, Michael Sexton, Paul Sonski, Eric Sundahl, Samuel J. Tell, Anne Tobin, Lindsay Webb, Christine Youngstrom, Travis Pinn, Kenneth Sayers

Sound Department

Roberto Dominguez Alegria, James Ashwill, Bub Asman, Hunter Berk, David V. Butler, Gail Carroll-Coe, Blake Collins, Tanja Crouch, John T. Cucci, Michael Dressel, Robert Fernandez, Joshua Fielstra, Christopher Flick, John Guentner, Bill Higley, Matthew Iadarola, Randall L. Johnson, Jason King, Mark Larry, Walt Martin, Ryan Murphy, Alan Robert Murray, Kevin R.W. Murray, Dan O'Connell, Thomas J. O'Connell, Jason Oliver, Mitch Osias, Tom Ozanich, Tony Pilkington, John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Curt Schulkey, Brian Seagrave, Roland N. Thai, Bryan O. Watkins, Sarah Vorhees Wendel, Katy Wood, Ryan Young, Vincent Zabaly, Nourdine Zaoui, Matthew Iadarola, Daniel Nakamura, Tom Ozanich, Paul Pavelka

Special Effects by

Marc Banich, John P. Cazin, Ante Dugandzic, Mike Edmonson, Belaid Fougdal, Michael Kay, David Lobato, Joe Montenegro, Brendon O'Dell, Hanin Ouidder, Ryan A. Riley, Steve Riley, Scott Roark, Richard Schwalm, Ryan Senecal, Jake Valdez, Vance Vanboxtel, Saphir Vendroux, Tom von Badinski, Alan Roberts

Visual Effects by

Mayur Dadarao Adhau, Oliver Adranghi, Anastasios Agiakatsikas, Luis Almazan, Dallis Anderson, Vittorio Barabani, Geeta Basantani, Jamie Baxter, Ashley Bellm, Baljot Bhatti, Lucian Boicu, Michael Bovberg, Mark Breakspear, Justin Brekke, Zaira Brilhante, Hugh Brompton, Jillian Brooks, Blair Brownlee, Shauna Bryan, Pauline Burns, Jeffrey Burt, Greg Butler, Xavier Callamand, Sara Cameron, Warwick Campbell, Taide Carpenter, Enrique Sandoval Castro, Raviraju Challa, Anoop Chandran, Roy Chang, Kirk Chantraine, Freddy Chavez Olmos, Christopher Choi, Satyaki Paul Choudhury, Ann Chow, Adriano Cirulli, Allison Clarke, John Clinton, Pedro Colmenares, Sean Coonce, Alex Corll, Mark Curtis, Cara Tallulha Davies, Amber Davy, Kristin Dearholt, Joel Delle-Vergin, Stanley A. Dellimore, Mark Derksen, Anurag Deshmukh, Craig Dibble, Ian Doss, Sudip Dutta, Scott Eade, Clwyd Edwards, Pedram Etebarzadeh, Jennifer Fairweather, Jayne Feiner, Phillip Feiner, Eric Fernandes, Shane Flaherty, Julia Flanagan, Michael Fournier, Claudia Fugazzotto, Venkat Reddy Gaddampally, Jason Gagnon, Jesus Garrido, Vivek Gaur, Buddy Gheen, Abhishek Ghorui, Melissa Goddard, Joshua Goetz, Hanna Goodman, Michael Leigh Gresham, Victoria Grey, Vaimiti Guesdon, Emilia Gustafsson, Jamie Hallett, Lindsay Hallett, Ben Harrison, Kimberly Headstrom, William Higgins, David Hirst, Anita Ho, Pablo Holcer, Chris Holmes, Shailey Horton, Ahman Hung, Ivan Imanishi, Brett Ineson, Francesc Izquierdo, Alexander Jacquet, Alex Jenyon, Ross Johnson, Marc Jones, Andrew Joseph, Josh Judd, Romeo Julien, Gustavo Kasai, Tadaomi Kawasaki, Bumjun Jeremy Kim, Marvin Kim, Markus Kircher, Priya Kotian, Uma Krishnamurthy, Arun Krishnan, Kodavali Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Nicha Kumkeaw, Louisa Kwan, Alison Lake, Miles Lauridsen, Andrew Lawson, Marco Lee, Shun Sing Edward Lee, Benoit Lefebvre, Matt Leonard, Max Leonard, Dave Levine, Joseph Li, Rachel Litz, Alex Lombardi, Fredrick Lyn, Filippo Maccari, Jonathan Macintosh, Suryakant Mahunta, Dean Mangion, Graham Martin, Jose Martin, Leon McCormick, Darin McCormick-Millett, Omar Meradi, Károly Mesterházy, Petar Milacic, M.S.M. Mirzhaa, Pravanjan Mohanty, Kobi Moldavski, Shannon Moran, Nick Murphy, Peter Muyzers, Jeff Nadwidny, Rajakanna Nagarajan, Nandhakishore, Garware Narendra, Salima Needham, Frida Nerdal, Gary Newman, Thomas Nittmann, James P. Noon, Eduardo Parra Ouilhet, Michael Owens, Jojan P M, Nitheesh P.C., Sumit Pabbi, Sivakumar Padala, Jason Lee Pangilinan, Eric Ponton, Barry Poon, Tim Pounds-Cornish, Kristin Pratt, Holly Price, Troy Provencal, Dnyandeep Pundkar, Yoran Radecker, Marko Radinkovic, Liz Radley, Rinki Rai, Velmurugan Rajamani, Satheesh Rangasamy, Derek Rein, Travis Reinke, Daniel Rhein, John Rhoads, Cynthia Richards, Adriano Rinaldi, Calvin Romeyn, Rosi Ruiz, Katya Ruslanova, Sribalaji Santharam, Olivier Sarda, Bruno Sargeant, Prithvijit Sarkar, Tom Schultz, Matt Seckman, Vijay Selvam, Sameer Shah, Rahul Sharma, Fabio Siino, Uros Simic, Katherine Smith, Scott Squires, P. Sriram, Mark Stern, Paul Venn Stirling, Trevor Strand, Yegor Swarovski, András Szõcs, Faizal Taher, Kaz Tanaka, John Taws, Lenin Thota, Yuki Uehara, Mike Uguccioni, Ron Underdahl, Audrius Urbonavicius, Jozef van Eenbergen, Olivier Van Zeveren, Niel Vas, Rajesh Velayudhan, Tiberius Viris, Aude Vitrant, Shawn Walsh, John Welborn, Matt Welford, Edson Williams, Anna F. Winters, Xye, Casey Yahnke, Kareem Yassih, Elbert Yen, David Zeng, Marteinn Örn Óskarsson, Angela Batten, Daniel Bigaj, Shane Birdsill, Thomas Buckingham, Chandrasekhar, Daniel Duwe, Sarah Fricker, Itay Greenberg, Jack Grundy, Boizanté Guillaume, Michelle Kee, Tom Mangat, Andrea Lackey Pace, Gina Pentassuglia, Bandhavit Puangpikul, Rohit Sardesai, Kranti Sarma, Conor Schock, Kazuma Tonegawa, Joseph Towe, Sreejith Venugopalan, Chia-Ping Wang, Stephen Winters, Peter Ji Zheng

Stunts

Yassine Afroukh, Younes Afroukh, Andrew Amani, Abdelaaziz Attougui, Faycal Attougui, Mohamed Attougui, Erik Aude, Rick Avery, Jeffrey G. Barnett, Hami Belal, Tarik Belmekki, Matt Berberi, Chino Binamo, Heather Bonomo, Bryan Billy Boone, Ait ben Azzouz Brahim, Jon Braver, Damien Bray, George Crayton, Max Daniels, Shane Daniels, Zack Duhame, Eyad Elbitar, David Elson, Mike Escamilla, Mark Fichera, George T. Fleming, Andrew. Francisco, Sergio Garcia, Daniel Graham, Stéphanie Guerin, Jeff Habberstad, Trevor Habberstad, Noureddine Hajoujou, Garrett Hammond, Adam Hart, Craig Henningsen, Kody Herman, Nick Hermz, Brendon Huor, Tim James, Abraham Justice, Antal Kalik, Krisztian Kery, Joel Michael Kramer, Efka Kvaraciejus, Theo Kypri, Youssef Marchouki, Jeremy Marinas, Aimad Mghar, Rick Moffatt, Panuvat Anthony Nanakornpanom, Richard Nunez, Abdellah Oukseh, Cedric Proust, Mark Rayner, Laurence Todd Rosenthal, Eric R Salas, Con Schell, Myke Schwartz, Philip J Silvera, Brett Smrz, Daniel Stevens, Aaron Toney, Michael Trisler, Thom Khoury Williams, Alvin Zalamea

Camera and Electrical Department

Yassine Abounouom, James W. Apted, Nicholas Arnold, Keith Bernstein, Greg Brooks, Buzzy Burwell, Stephen S. Campanelli, Trevor Carroll-Coe, Robert Chinello, Bill Coe, Jeff Cole, Max Deleo, Ross Dunkerley, Eduardo Eguia, Jason C. Fitzgerald, Michael Fitzgerald, Daniel A Hernandez, Trish Herremans, Ryan Hosking, Barry Baz Idoine, John Lacy, Thami Lahrach, Thomas P. Marshall, Driss Marzak, Bobby McMahan, Derek Miller, Dan Ming, Brian Minzlaff, Ian Myron, Peter Rosenfeld, Charles Saldana, Nathan Stern, Andrew Taylor, Doug Wall, Nick Zeigler

Animation Department

Aaron Barlow, Tommy Cheng, Catherine Mullan

Casting Department

Michelle Beatty, Chris Bustard, Narrimane Faqhir, Barbara Harris, Karim Kahkhani, Sierra Scott, Eve Streger

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Rachid Aadassi, Adil Arbouch, Abderrahim Benkhayi, Corey Bronson, Michael Crow, Lois DeArmond, Ani Ferrara, Adrienne Greshock, Matthew Jerome, Emma Kazarian, Mitchell Ray Kenney, Sara Khabir, Adrienne A Martinez, Jacqueline Martinez, Colleen Monroe, Bob Moore Jr., Steven Porch, Kelly Porter, Jack Taggart, John M. 'Jack' Wright, Jen Martin

Editorial Department

David S. Cox, Mike Delegal, Jennifer-Noel Dennis, Maxine Gervais, Alex Gilbert, Shay Greenfield, Edward Hobson, Erik Kaufmann, Katie Mims, Blu Murray, Adam Ohl, Jeff Pantaleo, Christopher Price, Jack Watts, Daniel André

Location Management

Khalid Ameskane, Driss Gaidi, Rachid Gaidi, Sam Gomez, Khalid Haberraih, Faical Hajji, Howard Harnett, Mike James Masumoto, Eddie Merino, Patrick Mignano, Hugo Moreno, Guy Morrison, Kyle Oliver, Kamal Ounejjar

Music Department

Joseph S. DeBeasi, Clint Eastwood, Robert Fernandez, Tom Hardisty, Lucas Pimentel, Ryan Robinson, Derek Somaru, Rich Wheeler, Carolynne Wyper, Vincent Cirilli, Kris Dirksen, M.B. Gordy, Peter Rotter, Dean Valentine

Script and Continuity Department

Kerry Lyn McKissick

Transportation Department

Mounir Badia, Ali Bakkioui, Tony Barattini, David R. Blakely, Bruce Comtois, Betane Driss, Nabil Jalil, Rick Kelleher, Kelsey Kimes, Alana McGaughy, Anthony J. Mignano, Yvette Peterson, Bea S. Rembeczky, Paul Salisian, Steven Shaffer, Brian Stackhouse, Larry Stelling, David Wang

Additional Crew

Abde Sallam Ait Abdellah, Omar Adam, Alishia Adams, Forrest Alsobrook, Mustafa Alyassri, Debra Leilani Bakeman, Teri J. Barber, Jimmy Belaidi, Taoufiq Belemqadem, Chad Bennett, Bouchra Bentayeb, Michael Bilog, Bethany Bilsky, Lisa Brown, Sam Carmichael, Jesse Carmona, Rebecca Carpenter, Brett Chapman, Ashe Coburn, Darren Colston, Tony X. Deale, James D. Dever, Sandra L. Dixon, Dylan Efron, Rebecca Feldman, David Fliegel, Cody Gere, West Gibson, Mckenna Grace, Hamid Ait Grine, Fady Hadid, Whitney Hodack, Craig Hosking, Youssef Jaber, Stacey Kalish, Mustafa Knight, Kevin Lacz, Austin Lapierre, Kristina Licare, Faleshia Lo, Myriam Loukili, Marlene Marks, Scott McEwen, Mike McLaughlin, Weston Middleton, Megan Mieduch, Tim Monich, Matthew W. Morgan, Cabernet Murray, Michael Panevics, Emmanuel Pappas, Kelli Parsons, Katia Peel, Scott A. Perez, Haley Bri Powell, Ardeshir Radpour, Tristan Ringenoldus, Sam Sako, Salah Salea, Taffy Schweickhardt, Scott Sener, Michael Simpson Jr., Riley B. Smith, Kori Sparks, Jeffrey D. Stevens, Widad Taha, Spencer Taylor, Quay Terry, Margarita McClenon Velona, Joan Waldman, Jason Walsh, Chuck Webb, Robert S. Wilhelm Jr., Michelle Chan Wong, Leah Wouters, Wynn Wygal, Racheline Benveniste, Paul Rodarte

Thanks

Nick Dash, Jim Schramm

Genres

Action, Biography, Drama

Companies

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment

Countries

USA

Languages

English, Arabic

ContentRating

R

ImDbRating

7.3

ImDb Rating Votes

483846

Metacritic Rating

72

Short Description

American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It is loosely based on the memoir American Sniper (2012) by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The film follows the life of Kyle, who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense. Although Kyle was celebrated for his military successes, his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life. The film was produced by Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, and Peter Morgan. It stars Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya, with Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Kevin Lacz, Navid Negahban, and Keir O Donnell in supporting roles.

The world premiere was on November 11, 2014, at the American Film Institute Festival, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 2014, and a wide release on January 16, 2015. The film became a major success, with a worldwide gross of over $547 million, making it the 13th most successful film at the 2014 worldwide box office, the highest-grossing war film of all time unadjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing film with a wide release during the month of January, and Eastwood s highest-grossing film.

The film received positive reviews, with praise for Cooper s lead performance and Eastwood s directing. At the 87th Academy Awards, American Sniper received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Cooper, ultimately winning one award for Best Sound Editing.

Box Office Budget

$58,800,000 (estimated)

Box Office Opening Weekend USA

$633,456

Box Office Gross USA

$350,159,020

Box Office Cumulative Worldwide Gross

$547,459,020

Keywords

Assassin,sniper,u.s. invasion of iraq,mercenary,neoconservatism