Claim: Bradley Cooper appeared in a movie.

American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall . It is loosely based on the memoir American Sniper : The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History -LRB- 2012 -RRB- by Chris Kyle , with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice . The film follows the life of Kyle , who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War , 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense . While Kyle was celebrated for his military successes , his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life . The film was produced by Eastwood , Robert Lorenz , Andrew Lazar , Bradley Cooper , and Peter Morgan . It stars Bradley Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya , with Luke Grimes , Jake McDorman , Cory Hardrict , Kevin Lacz , Navid Negahban , and Keir O'Donnell in supporting roles .   The world premiere was on November 11 , 2014 , at the American Film Institute Festival , followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25 , 2014 and a wide release on January 16 , 2015 . The film became a major  success , with a worldwide gross of over $ 547 million , making it the highest-grossing film of 2014 in the United States -LRB- $ 350 million -RRB- , the highest-grossing war film of all time unadjusted for inflation , and Eastwood 's highest-grossing film to date .   The film received mostly positive reviews from critics , with the majority of praise directed towards Cooper 's lead performance and Eastwood 's direction , though it attracted some controversy over its portrayal of both the War in Iraq and of Chris Kyle . At the 87th Academy Awards , American Sniper received six nominations , including Best Picture , Best Adapted Screenplay , and Best Actor for Cooper , ultimately winning one award for Best Sound Editing .