to the big screen. Cooper in fact initially had Steven Spielberg lined up
to direct, but when he had to step away, Eastwood came on board and
seemingly has utilized his efficient filmmaking techniques and gotten the
project ready for release this year. Instead of coming out in 2015,
American Sniper now is prepping for an Oscar qualifying release at
the end of December. For those of you unaware what American
Sniper is about, it’s an adaptation of the novel by Chris Kyle, a
Navy SEAL who recorded over 150 kills as a sniper before
tragically dying on home turf in a shooting accident. Cooper will
play Kyle, while the supporting cast includes the likes of Kyle
Gallner, Lucas Grimes, Sam Jaeger, Sienna Miller, and more.
The screenplay is by Jason Dean Hall and of course Eastwood
is behind the camera. There’s certainly some potential here for
awards attention, no doubt about that. Back when Eastwood
made Million Dollar Baby, this same release strategy was used
to great effect. That was another film that initially wasn’t on the
calendar, but then snuck up on folks. I remember the late Roger
Ebert being one of the first to talk about it, saying it was going to
win Best Picture, and go figure…it did. It also won Best Actress
for Hilary Swank and Best Director for Eastwood, so I’m sure
the powers that be are hoping that the same thing can happen
here, just substituting Cooper into the Best Actor field instead.
If this film is good, one can certainly see it contending in the Best Picture
, Best Director for Eastwood, Best Actor for Cooper, Best Supporting
Actor for Grimes perhaps, Best Supporting Actress for Miller,
Best Adapted Screenplay, and various technical Oscar categories.
My guess is that Best Picture and Best Actor will be the major plays,
as Cooper could look to turn his potential third nomination into his
first Academy Award win. That’s just a hunch, but it’s not a total
shot in the dark either.