Filmmaker Clint Eastwood, who first gained notoriety for his performance as Man with No Name in the Dollars Trilogy in the middle of the 1960s, is regarded as one of the best in the business. His 1992 film Unforgiven won the Best Director Oscar.
When the director helmed the biographical war drama American Sniper in 2014, written by Jason Hall, he added another lucrative story to his resume. Based loosely on Chris Kyle’s autobiography American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, the film American Sniper starred Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. However, it was said that the director had a difficult time making the movie.
Martin Kyle warned Clint Eastwood not to mess up the story
During an interview with Impulse Gamer, filmmaker-actor-producer Clint Eastwood shared that his 2014 movie American Sniper was based on the 2012 autobiography American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by now late real-life military veteran Chris Kyle. The movie starred Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller in the lead roles.
Eastwood shared that he was reading the memoir in his downtime when the studios called him up to ask if he’d be interested in making the movie. He said that he completed the 30 pages that were left and called them back. The director said that he told them that he would love the script and then Cooper called him up to tell him that they wanted him to direct the movie.
But the legendary director-actor-producer Eastwood did not have a smooth time while filming, as he revealed that Chris Kyle’s father, Martin Kyle, had a stern warning for Eastwood. Eastwood pointed out to Kyle and said, “Disrespect my son and I’ll unleash hell on you”, but Eastwood assured him that he did not need to worry because his son’s story was in good hands.
Later, Martin Kyle said, “Both Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Cooper were men I could trust. They were very open and engaging and did not want to hide anything.”
Why was American Sniper different for Clint Eastwood compared to other war movies?
Eastwood, during an interview w ith Emanuel Levy, was asked about why was American Sniper
He further added,
“It shows the toll war takes on a person but also the pressure it puts on the whole family. It’s good to be reminded of what’s at stake when people are sent into war and to acknowledge the sacrifices they make, so I thought that made it an especially significant story to tell.”
American Sniper became one of the most significant movies of all time, in addition to Eastwood’s one of the most successful movies with Oscar nominations and making a great collection at the box office. On asking why he think the movie was a hit among the audience, Eastwood said that there is always ongoing news about wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but no one sees it from the perspective of people who are there.
American Sniper is one of the movies that is regarded as a ‘Streaming Hit’
2014’s movie is not streaming on Max and, according to reports, holds the record at 4th place on the list of most watched movies on the streaming platform nearly a decade after its release. The movie has always received positive responses from critics and the audience for depicting the bravery of soldiers everywhere and the mind-altering PTSD that follows.
Actor Bradley Cooper, during one of his interviews, shared why he thinks that Clint Eastwood was the perfect choice for the director’s role in the movie. He said that it’s a universal story about what veterans go through when they are away and then suddenly they are back home trying to adjust to their ‘normal life’, which was very moving to him.
Cooper further noted that American Sniper seems to him like a movie made to study a character rather than a war movie and Eastwood has a pattern, with complex characters with very different backdrops, which is why he seemed perfect for the director’s role in putting the story out most honestly and truthfully.