Spielberg's 'American Sniper' Aims To Immortalize Legendary Navy SEAL
The film, titled "American Sniper," will be based on Kyle's memoir of the same name, which chronicles his 10-year career as a Navy SEAL sniper. With service in every major battle of the Iraq war and 225 confirmed kills, Kyle was so effective the enemy called him "The Devil Of Ramadi" and offered an $80,000 bounty on his head.
Actor Bradley Cooper of "The Hangover" fame will star as Kyle in the Warner Bros. production, slated for release in early 2014.
Some of Kyle's exploits were chronicled at Business Insider after his book was released, as Robert Johnson wrote at the time:
His first kill was a woman about to throw a hand-grenade at a group of Marines. His most distant kill was from 2,100 yards away outside Sadr City in 2008.
It was there he saw a man leveling a rocket launcher at an Army convoy and fired a single round from his .338 Lapua Magnum rifle with its Nightforce power scope.
From that distance, Kyle had to factor in terrain, wind, elevation, vibration from the shot, and even the Coriolis effect where the rotation of the earth affects where the bullet arrives.
Despite surviving heavy combat overseas and returning to head his own company, Kyle was killed earlier this year by a fellow veteran at a shooting range. His memorial service brought more than 7,000 attendees and his funeral procession stretched for miles.