American Sniper Page #5

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(03.18.14) 25.

TAYA:

What do you-

Then she sees BIGGLES, DAUBER, “D” and SQUIRREL rolling

with laughter at the bar, and remembers who she married.

CHRIS:

(smiles)

Package deal babe.

He dances her away from them and pulls his jacket aside,

flashing his boys the Trident pinned to his chest.

AT THE BAR:

TONY bowls up; once their instructor, now their Chief.

“D”

What’s the word, Chief?

TONY:

(looks them over)

It’s on boys. Just got the call.

They hoist their drinks, barking approval, “HOOYAH!”

ON DANCE FLOOR:

Taya sees the nod from Biggles to Chris, we’re going. She

tenses up in his arms, her feet growing heavy.

CHRIS:

They say it’ll be over in 6 weeks.

TAYA:

I’m so afraid.

CHRIS:

Don’t be afraid. It’s all part of the

plan.

He pulls her close, HIS EYES FIXED on someone else-

TAYA:

Your heart is beating out of your chest.

CHRIS:

(nods, looking past her)

I’m not the only one going to war.

JEFF KYLE stands on the rail in MARINE DRESS UNIFORM.

(03.18.14) 26.

CAKE CUTTING - EVENING

The boat rocks on choppy water. Taya dabs cake on Chris’s

nose and they kiss. THE BOOM of distant fireworks is

followed by AIR-RAID SIRENS as shock & awe hit Baghdad.

CUT TO BLACK.

CHYRON:
“OPERATION PHANTOM FURY: 2nd BATTLE OF FALLUJAH”

MARC LEE (PRE-LAP)

Welcome to Fallujah. The new wild west of

the old middle east.

44 INT. M-113 ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER, FALLUJAH - DAY 44

SOLDIERS sit elbow to elbow. 6 SEAL SNIPERS and A SQUAD

OF MARINES to watch their backs. CHRIS tucks the little

blue Bible and American flag and into his webbing then

removes his wedding band, hanging it from his necklace.

MARC LEE AO2 (26) is a poster-boy Navy Seal, soulful and

handsome. He glows like a halo in a river full of sh*t.

MARC LEE:

AQI have put a price on your heads and

extremists from around the globe are

flooding the borders to collect on it.

The rig hits a pothole and faces clench expecting an IED.

MARC LEE:

You snipers will be paired with a man to

watch your back and inserted along the

main road to do “overwatch” for 1st

Marines going door to door. Your job is

to protect those Marines at all costs.

The truck battles to a stop.

MARC LEE:

The city was evacuated. Any military-aged

male still here, is here to kill you.

Let’s bring these boys in safe and get

our asses back home. Move-

The hatch falls open--

45 EXT. HOSPITAL, NORTHERN BRIDGE, FALLUJAH 45

A gunmetal sky. The staccato pop of GUNFIRE in the

distance. SNIPERS and SUPPORT cross an orchard.

(03.18.14) 27.

CHRIS walks upright. The Marine paired with Chris is a

mouthy Arkansas boy, “WINSTON”, skitters tree to tree.

WINSTON:

Keep your head down, Tex. The Muj’ got

snipers too.

CHRIS:

A sniper won’t aim for your head.

A DOZEN MARINES are posted outside an apartment complex.

WINSTON:

They got this sniper that’s been hitting

headshots from 500 yards out-

46 INT. APARTMENT COMPLEX 46

An open atrium eight stories tall. CHRIS and WINSTON walk

past a giant pile of furniture and debris tossed down.

WINSTON (CONT’D)

--they call him “Mustafa.” He was in the

Olympics.

CHRIS:

They got sniping in the Olympics now?

They start up the stairs.

46A OMITTED 46A

47 INT. APARTMENT, SIXTH FLOOR 47

Chris walks from APARTMENT TO APARTMENT, some vandalized,

others untouched, checking sight-lines out windows.

WINSTON:

(trailing Chris)

What’re we looking for?

CHRIS:

You ever hunt?

WINSTON:

I ain’t that kind of red-neck.

He unzips and peels off into the bathroom.

(03.18.14) 28.

WINSTON (OS)

F***, f***-WINSTON

FIRES TWO ROUNDS in the bathroom. Chris pulls aSpringfield .45 as-A

GOAT:

Bounds out of the bathroom, runs out the apartment doorand leaps OVER THE RAILING, falling six floors.

RAILING:

CHRIS and WINSTON look down to the lobby, where Marinesstand around the DEAD GOAT.

CHRIS:

(laughing)

You just got your first kill, Goat.

“GOAT” (not Winston) will be his name from here out.

CHRIS:

I’m going to the roof. You stay here and

be on the lookout for farm animals.

48

EXT. ROOFTOP/ SNIPER NEST - DAY 48

Under a corrugated piece of steel, a ritual unfolds-Chris

packs a dip. He lays out his Bible and flag. Loads

bullets in a wrist-sheath. Starts to marshal his breath.

Time slows as he lowers his eye to the glass.

(NOTE:
we are back to the beginning of the film.)

CHRIS SCOPE POV:

TRACK ACROSS bombed-out buildings, twisted metal and

golden-domed mosques. Ragged curtains flutter out a

window. Cat-tails on the river sway the same direction.

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.

CHRIS KYLE:

(keys mike)

I got a military-aged male, on a cell

phone, watching the convoy. Over.

(03.18.14) 29.

COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)

If he’s reporting troop movement you have

a green-light. Your call. Over.

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 MAN ON CELL

dips his shoulder, 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:

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

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?

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

CHRIS KYLE:

You got eyes on this? Can you confirm?

Over.

COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)

Negative. You know the ROEs. Your call.

GOAT (OC)

They fry you if you’re wrong. Send your

ass to Leavenworth.

(03.18.14) 30.

THE KID moves toward the convoy with the grenade.

CHRIS KYLE (OC)

F***-

MOTHER motions him 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 eyes water with focus, his exhale hisses from tobacco-

stained teeth. Breathe it down. He struggles to get calm.

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. Landscape

pulses with color and focus. He stokes the trigger and-

THE BULLET:

Leaps from the barrel. Cracks like a whip. The .300 round

hurls forward, glinting as it enters the flesh of-

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