Not to change the tenor of this Chris Kyle story, but different news came out yesterday, on Fresh Air. Via Entertainment Weekly:
After the tragic shooting death of ex-Navy SEAL Chris Kyle this past week, Bradley Cooper is moving forward with American Sniper, a movie based on the autobiography of Kyle. Cooper bought the rights to American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History last spring, he told NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday.
In the wide-ranging interview (which you can listen to in full), Cooper discussed how he wanted to fast-track the project, which has obviously generated more public interest with recent events. “I couldn’t believe it. Jason Hall, who’s writing the script, called me an hour after it happened…,” Cooper explained about how he heard about the death. “The first draft was coming in this week, and Thursday I was at Walter Reed hospital meeting with veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder, among many other ailments; and then all of a sudden I hear this thing and I just can’t believe it. This man has two children, and he is an advocate for putting guns back in veterans’ hands, as a way of therapy.”
When asked whether the movie would still be made, Cooper said: “His story first of all really needs to be told, and it’s also relevant on two fronts: gun control and the need to address the many soldiers who are coming back with PTSD.”
