Salon.com > chris kyle

Steven Spielberg to direct “American Sniper” film adaptation

Thu, 02 May 2013 19:38:00 +0000

The "American Sniper" project is moving forward, adding legendary director Steven Spielberg to its credits, reports THR. Spielberg will also co-produce the film, along with Andrew Lazar and Peter Morgan and actor Bradley Cooper.

Cooper bought the rights to the film adaptation of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's book in May 2012, but fast-tracked the project after Kyle's death in early 2013. Kyle was shot dead by veteran Eddie Routh, thought to have been struggling with PTSD.

Cooper will star as Chris Kyle, and intends to use the role to illuminate high-profile issues, telling NPR's Terry Gross that Kyle's story "needs to be told and it’s also relevant on two fronts. One, gun control, and two, the need to address this — the many soldiers that are coming back with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Bradley Cooper to play Chris Kyle in “American Sniper” biopic

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:50:00 +0000

Bradley Cooper has proven to be so much more than just a Hollywood hunk with pretty face, gaining critical praise this year for his moving portrayal in "Silver Linings Playbook" of Pat Solitano Jr., a young man who suffers from bipolar disorder. And Cooper takes the elevated role seriously, becoming a sort of an advocate for mental-health reform; yesterday, along with David O. Russel, he met with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss "acceptance, understanding and access to treatment for those with mental illness" in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings.

Now he's seeking out another emotionally charged, complex role: that of Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper" author and Navy SEAL who was shot and killed last week, allegedly by Eddie Routh, a war veteran believed to have been struggling with PTSD.

Death of an American sniper

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:00:00 +0000

"I am not a fan of politics," wrote Chris Kyle, the 38-year-old former Navy SEAL sniper who was shot and killed with a friend at a Texas firing range on Saturday. Yet, in his best-selling memoir, "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History" -- originally published last year and currently experiencing a sales bump in the aftermath of Kyle's death -- the commando also wrote, "I like war." The problem, as Kyle would have known if he'd read his Carl von Clausewitz, is that the two aren't separable; war, as Clauswitz wrote, is the continuation of politics by other means.

Chances are, though, that Kyle never heard of Clausewitz; certainly there's nothing in "American Sniper" to suggest that he ever thought very deeply about his service, or wanted to. The red-blooded superficiality of his memoir is surely the quality that made it appealing to so many readers. Well, that and Kyle's proficiency at his chosen specialty: He boasted of having killed over 250 people during his four deployments as a sniper in Iraq. While Kyle’s physical courage and fidelity to his fellow servicemen were unquestionable, his steadfast imperviousness to any nuance, subtlety or ambiguity, and his lack of imagination and curiosity, seem particularly notable in light of the circumstances of his death. They were also all-too-emblematic of the blustering, tragically misguided self-confidence of the George W. Bush years.

Gun trolls attack Mother Jones editor over Chris Kyle

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:44:00 +0000

Shortly after the news broke that Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author, was shot and killed at a Central Texas gun range on Saturday, Mother Jones co-editor Clara Jeffrey took to Twitter to make the point that even an expertly trained sniper couldn't prevent gun violence:

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Moments after publishing the comment, fanatics came out in full force to threaten and harass Jeffrey for suggesting that guns don't, in fact, make us safer. After receiving a few threatening tweets, Jeffrey tried to clarify her point:

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And clarify it again:

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A glance at the life of Chris Kyle, ex-Navy SEAL

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:55:00 +0000

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Decorated Iraq war veteran Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author, was shot and killed at Central Texas gun range on Saturday. Here's the legacy he leaves behind:

NAVY RECORD

Kyle enlisted in the Navy in February 1999 and was discharged on November 2009, military records show. During that time, he served four tours in Iraq received 14 different awards and decorations, including two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.

"I didn't do it for the money or the awards. I did it because I felt like it was something that needed to be done and it was honorable. I loved the guys," Kyle told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2012.

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THE DEVIL

Kyle wrote a best-selling book published in January 2012 detailing his 150-plus kills of Iraqi insurgents from 1999 to 2009. Kyle said in the book that insurgents had put a $20,000 bounty on his head. The website for his security training company said the Iraqis feared him so much they nicknamed him al-Shaitan, or "The Devil."

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LOSS OF A HERO

UPDATED: “American Sniper” author fatally shot at Texas gun range

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 09:07:00 +0000

UPDATED: Chris Kyle, an Iraq war vet and former Navy SEAL — and the best-selling author of "American Sniper" — was shot to death, along with another man, by 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, on Saturday afternoon. The shooting took place at a Texas gun range, according to Sheriff Tommy Bryant, of Erath County, who spoke with the Texas news media. Kyle, who was 38, was considered the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, killing over 150 insurgents from 1999 to 2009.

According to both the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, the two men were found dead at Rough Creek Lodge’s shooting range west of Glen Rose, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The Star-Telegram reports that witnesses saw a gunman open fire on the men on Saturday afternoon, around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, before fleeing in a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims. The suspect, Routh, was taken into custody in Lancaster, southeast of Dallas, and arraigned on two counts of capital murder. According to the Associated Press, Capt. Jason Upshaw with the Erath County Sheriff's Office said Routh used a semi-automatic handgun, which authorities later found at his home.