New Clip For AMERICAN SNIPER Comes Online

Warner Bros. Pictures has released a new clip from Clint Eastwood’s upcoming film AMERICAN SNIPER.

Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle, whose skills as a sniper made him a hero on the battlefield. But there was much more to him than his skill as a sharpshooter.

Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is sent to Iraq with only one mission: to protect his brothers-in-arms. His pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and, as stories of his courageous exploits spread, he earns the nickname “Legend.” However, his reputation is also growing behind enemy lines, putting a price on his head and making him a prime target of insurgents. He is also facing a different kind of battle on the home front: striving to be a good husband and father from halfway around the world.

Despite the danger, as well as the toll on his family at home, Chris serves through four harrowing tours of duty in Iraq, personifying the spirit of the SEAL creed to “leave no one behind.” But upon returning to his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller), and kids, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.

“…I have to tell you: it’s not the people you saved that you remember. It’s the ones you couldn’t save… Those are the faces and situations that stay with you forever.”  – Chris Kyle, from the book American Sniper

Chris Kyle might have been just one of the millions of veterans who have served were it not for a statistic. He emerged from the war in Iraq as the most lethal sniper in the history of the U.S. military, but the filmmakers of AMERICAN SNIPER knew it was equally if not more important to explore the man behind the numbers.

Watch Kyle’s interview with Conan O’Brien from 2012 below. On February 2, 2013, an unimaginable tragedy turned the filmmakers’ sense of responsibility into a promise. Chris Kyle—who had survived four dangerous tours of duty in Iraq and had devoted his post-war life to helping his fellow veterans—was murdered not far from his home on a shooting range in Texas, allegedly by a veteran he was trying to help.

Almost exactly one year later, Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper traveled to Texas to meet with Chris’s family, including Taya; his parents, Wayne and Debbie; and his brother, Jeff. The director recalls, “It was vital for me to spend that time with them because we got a much better idea of who Chris was from his family, who are wonderful. We came away with a combination of sadness over the loss of this remarkable man but even more enthusiasm about making this film.”

“We gave them our word that we were going to do right by Chris,” Cooper adds. “And the truth is I really did feel like he was there.”

Director/producer Clint Eastwood offers, “I have done war stories before, but this was exciting to me because it was a cross between Chris’s exploits in combat and the personal aspects of his life, which made him even more interesting. 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.”

Chris Kyle lived according to a simple code: God. Country. Family. They weren’t just words to him; they were the foundation for a life devoted to duty, service and an unwavering dedication to something greater than himself. The extraordinary demands of his job as a Navy SEAL, as well as the burdens that placed on those who loved him most, especially his wife, Taya, ultimately forced him to re-examine the order of those three precepts, but never his commitment to them.

Actor Bradley Cooper adds: “Chris was not a violent man—in fact, far from it—but when called upon, he did not shrink from his duty because he believed the cause is just. His heroism wasn’t just in the number of ‘kills’ he had in war; it was also in how he was ultimately able to confront the intangible wounds of war, not only within himself but on his family.”

AMERICAN SNIPER opens on December 25th.

Photos Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures / ©2014 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC.,WV FILMS IV LLC AND RATPAC-DUNE ENTERTAINMENT LLC