Clint Eastwood is in talks of replacing former director Steven Spielberg for the Warner Bros. biopic American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as Navy Seal Chris Kyle.
The biopic film is based on Navy Seal Chris Kyle’s life as the most lethal sniper in American history. Kyle made it his personal mission to help veterans. “This guy had everything. His book was a phenomenal hit. He just sold the rights to the movie. … But he drove a pick-up truck and volunteered his time to help veterans,” former Navy Seal and close friend Brandon Webb recalls.
Kyle helped veterans because someone once did the same for him. According to TheBlaze.com, “Kyle had trouble transitioning back after coming home from combat and someone had helped him, that man was his friend Glen Doherty who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya.”
Kyle, Webb and other veterans worked to reach out to soldiers going through difficult transitions from military to civilian life, dealing with issues such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). According to some military veterans, the Transition Assistance Program is just not enough. Webb argued that, “the big issue is transition from military to civilian life, you get one a one week class and [then] you’re on your a** outside.”
Unfortunately, Chris Kyle’s untimely death came from his work trying to help fellow veterans. Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, brought 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, an Iraqi war veteran who was reportedly having trouble with PTSD, to a shooting range on February 2, 2013 near Chalk Mountain, Texas. While at the shooting range, Routh fired a weapon at Kyle and Littlefield, killing both men at the scene.
Currently, Clint Eastwood is directing the Broadway musical film adaptation of Jersey Boys, based on the story of the rise and fall of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Their Broadway show Jersey Boys has grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eastwood is in the early stages of negotiations for the biopic, which is scheduled to begin filming early next year.
The reason for Spielberg’s departure is reportedly due to the film’s budgetary issues.
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