American Sniper

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All gave some. Some gave all.

1 OVER BLACK 1

The groan of tank treads drowns out THE CALL TO PRAYER asan entire MARINE COMPANY advances over the top of us.

2 EXT. STREET, FALLUJAH, IRAQ - DAY 2

The sun melts over squat residences on a narrow street.

MARINE COMPANY creeps toward us like a cautious Goliath.

FOOT SOLDIERS walk alongside Humvees and tanks.

COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)

(radio chatter)

Charlie Bravo-3, we got eyes on you fromthe east. Clear to proceed, over.

3 EXT. ROOFTOP, “OVERWATCH” - SAME 3

Sun glints off a slab of corrugated steel. Beneath it-CHRIS

KYLE lays prone, dick in the dirt, eye to the glassof a .300 Win-Mag sniper rifle. He’s Texas stock with a

boyish grin, blondish goatee and vital blue eyes. Boththose eyes are open as he tracks the scene below,

sweating his ass off in the shade of steel.

CHRIS KYLE:

F***ing hot box.

GOAT (24, Arkansas Marine) lies beside him, woodsy andoutspoken, watching dirt-devils swirl in the street.

GOAT:

Dirt over here tastes like dog sh*t.

CHRIS KYLE:

I guess you’d know.

Goat balks and fixes his M4 on the rooftop door.

CHRIS SCOPE POV:

TRACK ACROSS bombed-out buildings, twisted metal andgolden-domed mosques. Ragged curtains flutter out awindow. Cat-tails on the river sway the same direction.

We see him studying windage; we see what he’s thinking-SFX:

A LOW FREQUENCY BUZZ escalates over picture as his

concentration deepens. Cross-hairs land on-A

MAN ON CELL PHONE watches the convoy from a rooftop.

(03.18.14) 2.

CHRIS KYLE:

(keys mike)

I got a military-aged male, on a cell

phone, watching the convoy. Over.

COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)

If you think he’s reporting troop

movement you have a green-light. Your

call. Over.

GOAT (OC)

He could be calling his old lady.

MAN ON CELL studies the convoy, his hair tossed by wind.

CROSS-HAIR push left of target, compensating for windage.

SFX:
Chris takes a deep inhale, holds it, then expels.

His finger is taking up trigger-slack when the man dips

his shoulder slightly. Chris holds off as--

MAN ON CELL hangs up and steps away.

CHRIS KYLE:

(keys mike)

He stepped off.

Chris sucks air. Close. The ambient world floods back in.

Barked orders, diesel engines and--

A WOMAN AND KID exit the same structure. They’re headed

up the sidewalk but cut sharply into the street.

CHRIS KYLE:

(keys mike)

Hold up. I got a woman and a kid, 200

yards out, moving toward the convoy.

(ECU)--The woman cradles something beneath her robes.

CHRIS KYLE:

Her arms aren’t swinging. She’s carrying

something.

CROSS-HAIRS ON WOMAN as she pulls a cylindrical object

from her robes. His vision obscured but-

CHRIS KYLE:

She just pulled a grenade. An RKG Russian

grenade. I think she gave it to the kid.

COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)

--you say a woman and kid?

(03.18.14) 3.

SFX:
his heart-beat, THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP.

CHRIS KYLE:

You got eyes on this? Can you confirm?

COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)

Negative. You know the ROEs. Your call.

GOAT (OC)

They fry you if you’re wrong. Send your

ass to Leavenworth.

THE KID moves toward the convoy with the grenade.

CHRIS KYLE (OC)

F***-MOTHER

motions the Kid to hurry along (ECU)-- her robes

flutter, trash blows in the street, the dust off her

son’s footsteps; all blowing the same direction.

THE KID sprints toward the Marines.

IN THE STREET:

YOUNG MARINES. Wading into war. Boots scuffing dirt.

CLOSE ON CHRIS:

His exhale hisses from tobacco-stained teeth. Breathe it

down. He struggles to get calm, fighting for control.

SFX:
THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP THUMP-CROSS-

HAIRS left of the running target, leading him,

compensating for a dozen different considerations as--

He pauses upon exhale. The world goes quiet. Landscapepulses with color and focus. He stokes the trigger and-THE

BULLET:

Leaps from the barrel. Cracks like a whip. The .300 roundhurls forward, glinting as it enters the flesh of-A

WHITE-TAIL BUCK

It staggers, draws and topples to the ground. We are-4

EXT. HILLS, WEST TEXAS - PRE-DAWN 4

A field shrouded in fog. CHRIS KYLE(8) jumps from a deerblind, innocent and excited, running toward the buck.

(03.18.14) 4.

MAN’S VOICE

Get back here.

Chris stops, turns back. WAYNE KYLE, his father, is

sturdy and earnest with mutton chops and Texas calm.

WAYNE:

Don’t ever leave your gun in the dirt.

CHRIS:

Yes, sir.

WAYNE:

Helluva shot, son. You got a gift. You’re

gonna make a fine hunter someday.

Chris nods, clear-eyed, as if hearing the whisper of

destiny. He grabs the .30-06, running again, bounding to--

THE BUCK:

Glassy brown eyes look up at Chris. It’s still alive.

WAYNE:

Everything dies to give life.

CHRIS:

Can it see me?

WAYNE:

It’s a deer, son.

Chris processes his first kill, watching as--(ECU) a

flea crawls around the animal’s inner-ear.

WAYNE KYLE:

(hands him hunting knife)

You shot it, you deal with it.

Chris straddles the deer. It tries to gouge him. He looks

frightened but drags the blade across its neck.

5 OMITTED 5

6 INT. CHURCH 6

A Protestant church. CHRIS is dressed in Sunday best,

shuffling pages of a LITTLE BLUE BIBLE to create breeze.

(03.18.14) 5.

PASTOR:

We don’t see with his eyes so we don’t

know the glory of his plan. Our lives

unfold before us like puzzling

reflections in a mirror. But on the day

we rise, we will see with clarity and

understand the mystery of his ways-

JEFF(6), his reedy little brother, watches Chris slip the

Bible in his pocket. Jeff laughs and gets smacked by-

DEBBIE, their mother. She wears big oval glasses and runs

a wayward-boys home with that same steady hand.

7 OMITTED 7

8 INT. CHRIS’ BEDROOM 8

Dust motes drift across a dresser, settling on a Pop-

Warner football, that BLUE BIBLE, and METALLIC TOY

SOLDIERS guarding the bullet casing from his first buck.

WAYNE KYLE (VO)

There are three types of people in this

world. Sheep, wolves and sheepdogs.

PUSH THROUGH the modest ranch house into-

9 INT. DINING ROOM 9

WAYNE lectures his boys over venison.

WAYNE KYLE:

Some people prefer to believe that evil

doesn’t exist in the world, and if it

ever darkened their doorstep they

wouldn’t know how to protect

themselves... those are the sheep.

Jeff bites back tears. Chris looks troubled.

10 EXT. SCHOOLYARD 10

FROM THE BACK, we watch a BIG BULLY pummel a KID ON THE

GROUND. His meaty fists coming down repeatedly as-

WAYNE KYLE (VO)

Then you got predators who use violence

to prey on the weak. They’re the wolves.

(03.18.14) 6.

KID ON THE GROUND is JEFF, his nose bloody. PUSH TOWARDthe fight--(ECU) blood flecks fly from the Bully’s fist.

WAYNE KYLE (VO)

Then there are those blessed with the

gift of aggression and an overpoweringneed to protect the flock.

A FIST CONNECTS with BIG BULLY’s temple. He goes down.

Chris stands over the bully, beating the tar out of him.

WAYNE KYLE (VO)

These men are the rare breed that live to

confront the wolf--

11 EXT. FIELD 11

CHRIS stands with his arms extended. Wind blows dirt off

his palms and it plumes out across the land.

WAYNE KYLE (VO)

They are the sheepdog.

12 INT. DINING ROOM 12

WAYNE removes his belt and lays it on the table. CHRISlooks at it, worried.

WAYNE KYLE:

Now we’re not raising any sheep in this

family and I will whoop your ass if youturn into a wolf-Wayne-

DEBBY:

WAYNE:

But we take care of our own. And if

someone picks a fight with you or bulliesyour brother, you have my permission tofinish it.

CHRIS:

The guy was picking on Jeff.

That true?

WAYNE KYLE:

JEFF:

(eye swollen)

Yes sir... Yes, he was...

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