AMERICAN SNIPER
Written by
Jason Hall
Based on the book by
Chris Kyle
with Scott McEwen
and Jim DeFelice
All gave some. Some gave all.
1 OVER BLACK 1
The groan of tank treads drowns out THE CALL TO PRAYER as
an 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 from
the 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 glass
of a .300 Win-Mag sniper rifle. He's Texas stock with a
boyish grin, blondish goatee and vital blue eyes. Both
those eyes are open as he tracks the scene below,
sweating his ass off in the shade of steel.
CHRIS KYLE
Fucking hot box.
GOAT (24, Arkansas Marine) lies beside him, woodsy and
outspoken, watching dirt-devils swirl in the street.
GOAT
Dirt over here tastes like dog shit.
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 and
golden-domed mosques. Ragged curtains flutter out a
window. 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)
Fuck--
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. 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--
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 deer
blind, 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 TOWARD
the 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 overpowering
need 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. CHRIS
looks at it, worried.
WAYNE KYLE
Now we're not raising any sheep in this
family and I will whoop your ass if you
turn into a wolf--
DEBBY
Wayne--
WAYNE
But we take care of our own. And if
someone picks a fight with you or bullies
your brother, you have my permission to
finish it.
CHRIS
The guy was picking on Jeff.
WAYNE KYLE
That true?
JEFF
(eye swollen)
Yes sir... Yes, he was...
(03.18.14) 7.
WAYNE KYLE
(turns to Chris)
And did you finish it?
Chris shows the swollen knuckles of his hand, and nods.
WAYNE
Then you know who you are...
13 EXT. BARN 13
A GROWN MAN(CHRIS) exits the barn into the light of day.
Behind him, horns of dozens of bucks cover the wall.
WAYNE (VO)
You know your purpose.
The barn door closes leaving us in brindled darkness.
"AMERICAN SNIPER"
14 EXT. RODEO ARENA 14
A hand grips the tie on a bronc. CHRIS sits bareback atop
the horse, its nostrils steaming, eyes shock wide. (ECU)--
a hair-line crack along its right front hoof.
BUZZER SOUNDS. GATE OPENS. The bronco leaps out. Empty
stands blur past. The Bronc and Chris united in a futile
struggle. He leans right, the bronc circles right,
staying off that bad hoof. Chris makes the buzzer but--
He gets tossed on dismount. The bronco stomps his hand.
He scrambles out of the ring as RODEO CLOWNS distract it.
FIND JEFF(19) ringside, with tight lips and severe eyes.
He looks over the empty arena, laughing.
15 INT. FORD TRUCK 15
Headlights rattle over a dirt road. JEFF drives. CHRIS
rides, BAG OF ICE on hand, BELT BUCKLE prize on the dash.
He stares into the field where A WILD HORSE, races
alongside them, a spectral image in the darkness.
JEFF
Wasn't nobody there and you come away
with a belt buckle too damn big to wear.
What you supposed to do with it?
(03.18.14) 8.
CHRIS
(grabs belt buckle)
You're supposed to get laid with it. I'm
gonna wear it in and see if it puts Sarah
in the mood.
JEFF
A strong wind'd put Sarah in the mood.
CHRIS
Is that what they say?
JEFF
You know what they called her in high
school--
CHRIS
Don't say it.
JEFF
Sarah suck-a--
Chris swings his bag of ice, smacks Jeff in the face.
JEFF
Shit man--
He swerves off the road. The truck almost coming apart
before he ramps back up, coming to a dusty halt outside--
16 EXT. BUNKHOUSE 16
Spanish moss hangs over a shackle-board residence. Chris
tumbles out the truck, clips on the belt buckle and--
17 INT. BUNKHOUSE 17
CHRIS swaggers into the narrow bunkhouse. A sheet hangs
in back, separating sleeping area from living area.
CHRIS
Who wants to hump a rodeo star?
Movement back there. A MAN ASS suddenly protrudes from
the curtain as a BURLY COWBOY-TYPE climbs into jeans.
CHRIS
What the fuck--
SARAH steps out, his high school sweetheart all grown up.
(03.18.14) 9.
SARAH
You said you wasn't coming home until
tomorrow.
CHRIS
(wounded)
Why would you do this?
Cowboy leaves his shirt open flaunting a big hairy chest.
SARAH
Just let him out. He didn't know...
CHRIS
(shamed, steps aside)
You didn't know?
Cowboy doesn't answer. Chris SLAMS HIS HEAD into the
refrigerator and ramps him out the front door.
SARAH
What the fuck is wrong with you! What'd
you expect? You drag me out here then run
off with your damn brother every weekend!
CHRIS
Get out.
She jumps at the chance-- ripping clothes out of closets.
SARAH
You think you're a cowboy cause you
rodeo? You're no cowboy. You're just a
lousy ranch-hand and a shitty fuckin lay!
The door slams behind her. Chris stares at the dent in
the fridge, wounded. He opens it and pulls out a beer.
18 LATER 18
TV plays across Chris' drunken face. He lays on the sofa,
a beer on his chest. JEFF is sprawled in a chair.
JEFF
Some people ain't worth fighting for.
CHRIS
But she was right...
JEFF
(closing his eyes)
A job is a job. At least we're outside.
(03.18.14) 10.
Chris is bleary, lost and drifting to sleep. The images
on the TV don't immediately register but--
NEWS FOOTAGE of the WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING (1993)
plays on TV. An explosion has demolished the garage.
NEWS ANCHOR (OS)
--group of radical militants called Al-
Qaeda are taking credit for a bombing
that left six dead and hundreds injured--
American flags at half mast. His chest rises and falls--
CHRIS
Jeff, wake up. Look at this--
The faces of INNOCENT VICTIMS play across the screen.
Chris' injured hand slowly curls into a fist.
CHRIS
Look what they did...
19 INT. NAVY RECRUITING OFFICE 19
Posters of destroyers on walls. The NAVY RECRUITER is
lean and shrewd.
CHRIS
I saw what they did, on our soil, and--
NAVY RECRUITER
And you're from Texas and you're a
patriot so it pissed you off.
CHRIS
Yes, sir. But I can't see myself on a
ship. I'd wanna be in the fight--
NAVY RECRUITER
You wanna fight? Meet the warrior elite.
He slides him a brochure-- "NAVY SEALS" emerge from the
water, armed and bound for glory.
CHRIS KYLE
SEALs?
NAVY RECRUITER
Sea, Air and Land.
CHRIS
I ain't much of a swimmer--
(03.18.14) 11.
NAVY RECRUITER
(taking brochure back)
This isn't for the faint of heart. Most
men wash-out. They quit--
CHRIS
(cutting him off)
I'm not most men, sir. I don't quit.
20 OMITTED 20
21 OMITTED 21
22 EXT. NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE CENTER / "THE GRINDER" - DAY 22
CHRIS and 50 OTHER CANDIDATES lay on their backs doing
flutter-kicks on a patch of blacktop surrounded by beige
buildings. INSTRUCTORS wield hoses.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
(sprays Chris in the face)
You a quitter, boy?
CHRIS KYLE
No, sir!
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
Bullshit, you are fleet-meat. Don't turn
away. Look up and take it. You're old as
fuck. Did you join the Navy cause you had
such a good time on Noah's Arc? How old
are you?
CHRIS
30, sir.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
30! You fart dust and could've fathered
half these boys. You think cause you had
a pop-gun back in Texas you're cut out to
be a SEAL?
CHRIS
No, sir.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
No, you're not cut out to be one?
Chris is twisted in agony and clearly dislikes the water.
(03.18.14) 12.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
What kind of asshole joins the Navy but
hates the water.
CHRIS
I love water, hooyah.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
My ass you do.
A CANDIDATE chokes a giggle. Rolle wheels around on--
RYAN JOB(24), a goofy, overweight Oregon kid who looks
like he should be taking orders at a drive-thru window.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
Is that you giggling you fat fuck? Look
at you. You're so fat they had to baptize
you at Sea World. Your momma fat too?
RYAN
No sir, she's not.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
Don't lie to me! I bet we could use her
panties as a parachute. What the fuck are
you doing here fatboy? Do your feet get
wet when you shower? When's the last time
you saw your pecker? You're not a Seal,
you're a fuckin Walrus. A big giggling
Walrus. "Biggles" that's your new name--
"BIGGLES" is choking, coughing, struggling. ROLLE points
to A BRASS BELL mounted on the back of a truck.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
--and that's your ticket home. Just drag
your jelly-roll ass up and ring it and
you'll be headed home to momma Shamu.
BIGGLES is beaten, legs giving out, ready to quit when--
CHRIS (OC)
(draws Rolle off Biggles)
Two hundred.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
(whirls around, hosing)
Did I ask you to count?
CHRIS
No, sir.
(03.18.14) 13.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
Was that your ass talking then?
THE BELL RINGS. Chris jerks up, worried it was Biggles
but-- an ATHLETIC CANDIDATE staggers off.
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
That's a quitter. If he quits here, he'll
quit in battle. When shit gets hairy he
can't step up. You get shot, he can't
pull you out. We're gonna weed out the
quitters and see if we can find a warrior
or two.
Chris and Biggles share a look, a vow, as--
INSTRUCTOR ROLLE
Wave goodbye to the sun, boys...
23 OMITTED 23
24 EXT. BEACH - "SNAKE PIT" - NIGHT 24
A bonfire crackles atop a sand dune. CANDIDATES crouch in
a pit they dug, hugging oars, shivering with hypothermia.
CHRIS stands over the ditch, trying to make INSTRUCTORS
laugh to earn a place by the fire beside BIGGLES.
CHRIS
--and when I told her the condom broke
she started crying and begging me to do
something. And I'm a virgin, I don't know
what to do, but I'd heard if you pour
Coke up there you won't get pregnant--
(guys start laughing)
So we went to 7-11, got a liter of Coke
and drove back into the woods. She took
her panties off and did a handstand
against a tree but when I start pouring,
she starts screaming, "it stings, it
stings" but when I'd stop, she'd scream
"no don't stop" and it's fizzing out and--
INSTRUCTORS in stitches. Fire flickering off Chris' face.
25 EXT. "MUD FLATS" - DAY 25
Fog shrouds CANDIDATES COVERED IN MUD, seated belly-to-
back, chattering and quaking, hypothermic.
"INSTRUCTOR TONY"(34), a salty cholo, walks their line.
(03.18.14) 14.
INSTRUCTOR "TONY"
You really from Connecticut, Dauber? I
never met a hick from Hartford.
"DAUBER" is 6'4" and 240 with a flop of yellow hair like
the character from Coach. A sleepy Connecticut cowboy.
DAUBER
Country is countrywide, sir.
INSTRUCTOR "TONY"
I don't think he likes black dudes, "D".
"D" is African American, from Indiana, stoic and stacked.
He has a rhythmic grumble and a meat-eater's glare.
"D"
That's alright, sir. I'm not black.
INSTRUCTOR "TONY"
No?
"D"
No, I'm new black. We run slow, jump low,
swim good and shop at Gap. We make white
folk proud then hose their ladies.
"BIGGLES" still giggles, but he's looking fit as they
chip away everything that isn't a Navy Seal.
INSTRUCTOR "TONY"
You hungry Biggles? I'd bet you'd eat the
ass out of a low-flying duck.
BIGGLES
Hooyah. I'd toss that critter shitter on
a baguette and get my eat on.
"SQUIRREL" is a San Clemente surfer kid, just tall enough
to ride roller-coaster, with a jutty jaw.
INSTRUCTOR "TONY"
(screams in his face)
Squirrel! Where'd you hide your nuts?
SQUIRREL
Nuts crawled up inside. The little shits
are gone for good.
"CHRIS" sits up front, covered in mud. His eyes burn
steely blue, full of resolve. He's found himself here.
INSTRUCTOR "TONY"
How about you old man? How you feeling?
(03.18.14) 15.
CHRIS KYLE
Dangerous, sir. Feeling dangerous.
The boys send up a spirited "HOOYAH" and-- TONY looks
them over with some small measure of approval.
26 EXT. BEACH - SUNSET 26
The INSTRUCTOR CADRE watches 32 CANDIDATES SWARM each
other, howling and dog-piling at the end of hell-week.
27 OMITTED 27
28 OMITTED 28
29 INT. MULONEY'S BAR - NIGHT 29
A crowd watches the boys toss darts at a bulls-eye drawn
on DAUBER'S naked back. At the bar, BIGGLES and CHRIS--
CHRIS
I'm gonna try and get into sniper school.
BIGGLES
Can you shoot?
CHRIS
I can hunt. And what's cooler than being
a sniper?
BIGGLES
Blowing shit up. Blowing shit up is way
cooler.
A brunette steps to the bar. A sharp object with heavy
eye-shadow and tight leather pants. This girl owns her
sexuality but she's often been used for it.
This is "TAYA". She is trying to ignore the advances of A
SHORT NAVY GUY but he's relentless. Chris watches as
(ECU)-- Taya's fingertips whiten, gripping her glass.
Chris edges closer, she looks up, defensive-- but he just
stands there, letting his protective presence be felt.
DAPPER NAVY GUY (OC)
Come on, just let me buy you a drink.
(03.18.14) 16.
TAYA
(end of her rope)
Will a drink make you 6 inches taller and
charming? Will it make you not married?
DAPPER NAVY GUY
I'm not--
TAYA
I watched you take your ring off. Don't
be a scumbag. Go home.
Navy Guy retreats. Taya sips her scotch, doesn't look up.
CHRIS
It could be the leather pants.
TAYA
Yeah? What kind of pants does a girl have
to wear to be left alone?
CHRIS
Corduroy.
She takes him in. Loose sweatshirt, no hair gel.
TAYA
Is that how it is with you guys--
suddenly single after three beers?
CHRIS
Only thing that happens to me after three
beers is a fourth.
TAYA
That's great. A real red-neck.
CHRIS
I'm no redneck, I'm a Texan.
TAYA
What's the difference?
CHRIS
We ride horses, they ride their cousins.
TAYA
(almost laughs)
What do you do for work? You look like
military.
(03.18.14) 17.
CHRIS
I polish dolphins. They have to be
polished in captivity or their skin
disintegrates.
TAYA
Do I look stupid to you?
CHRIS
To be honest, you look a little sad.
She's taken aback by his observation.
CHRIS
So am I tall enough to buy you a drink?
TAYA
Not until you tell me what you do.
CHRIS
How about this: one shot, one answer.
Chris passes her a shot. She throws it back, fierce.
TAYA
You're obviously military. What branch?
CHRIS
I'm just finishing BUD/S.
TAYA
Are you kidding me? You're a SEAL?
CHRIS
That was two questions...
TAYA
(two angry shots)
I know all about you guys. My sister was
engaged to a SEAL.
CHRIS
What's that mean you know all about us?
TAYA
You're a bunch of arrogant, self-centered
pricks who think you can lie and do
whatever the fuck you want.
(pushes him a shot)
I'd never date a SEAL.
(03.18.14) 18.
CHRIS
(confused)
How can you say we're self-centered? I'd
lay down my life for my country.
TAYA
Why?
CHRIS
Cause it's the greatest country on earth
and I believe it's worth protecting.
(climbs off stool)
I'm sorry this guy hurt your sister but
that's not me. Nice talking to you.
TAYA
Where are you going?
CHRIS
You said you'd never date a SEAL, so I'm
going home.
TAYA
I said I'd never marry one.
It's a lie and they both know it.
CHRIS
Well in that case... what's your name?
TAYA
Taya.
CHRIS
Nice to meet you, Taya. I'm Chris Kyle.
TAYA
(liquor softening her)
Pretty egotistical of you to think you
can protect us all, isn't it Chris?
CHRIS
Our instructors say our biggest enemies
are ego, liquor, and women.
TAYA
Sounds like you're under attack.
She levels a look and downs another shot--
(03.18.14) 19.
30 EXT. MULRONEY'S BAR, PARKING LOT - LATER 30
Mist rolls in. Chris holds Taya's hair as she pukes. She
takes a deep breath, wipes her mouth--
TAYA
--I'm not going home with you so don't
even think about it.
She smiles, then turns to puke again--
31 EXT. RANGE - "SNIPER SCHOOL" - CAMP BILLY MACHEN - DAY 31
An arid range with human-shaped targets. PETTY OFFICER
TOSH (Irish/Japanese, nasty) walks past prone students.
PO TOSH
Feel breath filling every cell of your
body. This is our ritual. We master our
breath, we master our mind---
FIND CHRIS on .300 Win-Mag. Both eyes open. Dip packed.
Deep breaths. His finger taking up the trigger-slack.
PO TOSH
--pulling the trigger will become an
unconscious effort. You will be aware of
it but not directing it. And as you
exhale, find your natural respiratory
pause and the space between heart-beats.
Chris exhales, pauses, strokes-- BAM!
32 INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE 32
A ZOLOFT BROCHURE shows smiling faces. TAYA wears a suit-
skirt and tries to mimic the esprit of the brochure. She
leaves a box of samples with the RECEPTIONIST but her
smile fades as she pulls her trolley to the door--
33 INT. TAYA'S CONDO - DAY 33
Blades of light leak through closed blinds. Taya hides
under blankets on the sofa. PHONE RINGS, goes to message:
CHRIS (OS)
It's me again. The guy whose shoes you
puked on? I was thinking maybe you didn't
get my last message. Or the one before
that. So, I figured--
(03.18.14) 20.
She snatches up the phone--
TAYA
You figured what?
--looking for a reason not to be alone.
34 EXT. RANGE - CAMP BILLY MACHEN - DAY 34
ON CHRIS, both eyes open looking downrange.
PO TOSH (OC)
Aim small, miss small. If you aim for his
shirt button, you might miss by two
inches. If you aim for his shirt, you
miss by two feet.
(over Chris, raises binocs)
You better close those groupings, Kyle.
Chris chases his breath, trying to focus, but--
35 EXT. OCEANSIDE PIER - DUSK 35
PAN ACROSS a "target shoot" game to a bench overlooking
surf. CHRIS and TAYA sit with a GIANT TEDDY BEAR.
TAYA
Did you always want to be a soldier?
CHRIS
I wanted to be a cowboy-- but I did that
and I felt like I was meant for more.
TAYA
So you started rescuing girls from bars?
CHRIS
I rescued that bar from you.
She smiles at his sweetness.
CHRIS
Do you like country music?
TAYA
Only when I'm depressed.
CHRIS
You want kids?
(03.18.14) 21.
TAYA
Someday. My mom says I have a nose for
picking the wrong men.
CHRIS
That's a shitty thing to tell a girl.
TAYA
I've proven her right.
CHRIS
But those wrong picks put you here. They
made you who you are. And I like who you
are.
The Ferris wheel casts its glow on them.
TAYA
What happens when there's a real person
on the other end of that gun?
CHRIS
(uncertain)
I don't know... I just pray I can do my
job if that day comes.
It weighs on him. And she feels safe.
BACK TO:
35A EXT. RANGE - CAMP BILLY MACHEN 35A
PO TOSH (on spotting scope) stands over CHRIS. Mirage
boils off the horizon at 35 degree angle, pushed by wind.
BAM! Chris' shot hits the outer edge of target.
PO TOSH
Mirage is boiling at 35 degree angle.
CHRIS
Check. I'm dialed for windage.
PO TOSH
Hold right-four, up-two.
BAM! He misses. It spits dirt. Not even close.
PO TOSH
Are we looking at the same target?
(03.18.14) 22.
36 INT. TAYA'S CONDO - NIGHT 36
CHRIS sits on the couch, anxious, until TAYA appears in
the hall in lingerie. She slinks closer, straddling him,
determined to blow his mind but--
CHRIS
You're trembling...
TAYA
I know. I don't...
She finds his eyes. Finds her breath.
CHRIS
We don't have to do this...
TAYA
I want to. I do...
He gently lifts her up and lays her across the couch.
ANOTHER ANGLE
Soft light on pale bodies. Taya writhes with impatient
longing but Chris' steady hand forces her into the
present. She's swept up, eyes filling with tears as he
eases into her-- she gasps and arcs and draws him deeper.
36A EXT. RANGE - CAMP BILLY MACHEN 36A
PO TOSH stands over CHRIS, fed up now.
PO TOSH
You need to shut your off-eye.
CHRIS
If I close my off-eye I can't see what's
out there.
PO TOSH (OC)
There is nothing out there but a target.
CHRIS
Negative. There's something--
CHRIS POV (BOTH EYES VIEW)
The circular scope floats over the target. Left of scope,
a SWATCH OF GRASS doesn't sway like the rest.
(03.18.14) 23.
PO TOSH
Give me 50 push-ups. Clear and safe. Push
`em out.
The scope drifts left of target-- BAM! A RATTLESNAKE is
flung through the air, blown to shit, 500 yards out.
CHRIS
There it is.
He sets the rifle aside and starts cranking out push-ups.
37 OMITTED 37
38 OMITTED 38
39 INT. BEDROOM - MORNING 39
Ethereal white sheets. Two bodies lay like spoons. Chris
WHISPERS SOMETHING. Taya closes her eyes. A beat--
TAYA
You hardly even know me.
CHRIS
I know enough. You're a package deal,
babe.
She stares at the wall.
CHRIS
What are you afraid of?
TAYA
Nothing. Everything. I don't know. What
if it doesn't work out?
She moves to stand. He holds her put.
CHRIS
I'm going to marry you, and we're going
to start a family.
TAYA
You got it all planned out, don't you.
CHRIS
I love you. I'm done.
(03.18.14) 24.
TAYA
(crushed by his sincerity)
Well... you're gonna need a ring if you
want to talk all tough like that.
She accepts with a deep kiss and prances off with the
sheet. He smiles and falls back onto the bed. The
curtains dance in the morning light. Then--
TAYA (OS)
Oh my god! No! Chris--
Chris bounds up, running into the next room. Taya stands
in front of the television. They both watch as--
ON TV NEWS: THE SECOND PLANE hits the World Trade Center.
It steals their breath. Chris hugs her close, trying to
shield her from it. His shock bleeds to rage.
40 OMITTED 40
40A OMITTED 40A
41 OMITTED 41
41 OMITTED 41
42 OMITTED 42
43 INT. DANCE FLOOR, RENT-A-YATCH - LATER 43
The storm closing in. CHRIS two-steps TAYA around the
dance floor to Van Morrison's romantic "Someone Like
You." Chris looks boyish and dapper and Taya is flush
with beauty and promise. The moment is quietly sincere
with the entire WEDDING PARTY watching when--
TAYA
(her hand smudged with paint)
What the hell is on your neck?
She pulls at his collar to reveal GREEN SPRAY-PAINT
upside his neck.
CHRIS
Would you believe me if I told you I was
painted green and on an IV two hours ago?
(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 shit.
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)
Fuck, fuck--
WINSTON FIRES TWO ROUNDS in the bathroom. Chris pulls a
Springfield .45 as--
A GOAT
Bounds out of the bathroom, runs out the apartment door
and leaps OVER THE RAILING, falling six floors.
RAILING
CHRIS and WINSTON look down to the lobby, where Marines
stand 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)
Fuck--
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--
CLOSE ON CHRIS
He winces, sickened, and struggling to swallow the little
piece of him that just died.
GOAT (OC)
-Fuck that was gnarly.
CHRIS SCOPE POV
MOTHER flees down sidewalk, robes aflutter. CROSS-HAIRS
lead her. BAM. It pocks wall behind her. A round ejects.
CROSS-HAIRS swing forward, leads her more. BAM. She runs
into scope, reaches center, meets bullet. A red mist.
GOAT (OC)
Shit yeah. Evil bitch!
COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)
Nice shooting, Tex. Helluva call.
(03.18.14) 31.
COMPANY COMMANDER (OS)
Roger that. Good lookin' out Navy.
GOAT
You hear that?
He nudges Chris, trying to get a celebration out of him--
CHRIS
Get the fuck off me.
This is the reality of war. Not like he anticipated.
CLOSE ON CHRIS
Breath racing. Bleeding sweat. Trying to process his
disgust. Trying to inject some purpose, mumbling:
Protect the Marines. Protect the Marines. Protect...
Clouds crawl over Chris like ghosts, swirling feverishly
as HOURS SLIDE BY. His face takes on a preternatural
blankness as he begins to slip into the shadows of self.
Suddenly-- clouds halt, pupils flare, chest inflates.
49 EXT. ELIZABETH STREET - SAME 49
Sun flares as MARC LEE advances alongside 1ST PLATOON
MARINES (40 men) when-- A SHOT SOUNDS. A BODY TUMBLES out
of the sky and lands in their midst with a meaty thud.
1ST MARINE #1
-Fuck, man! What the hell--
The Marines duck for cover then look to the sky--
1ST MARINE #2
-Where'd it come from?
MARC LEE
That's your overwatch, Einstein. You can
thank him later. Keep moving.
Marines slowly return to standing, glancing up at
surrounding structures trying to spot their protector.
50 INT. WINDOW - LATE AFTERNOON 50
Chris lays atop a baby crib. A scrim hangs in front of
him. Sunlight burns through it, casting a thousand
pinpricks of light across his face. SUN MARCHES ACROSS
the sky and pixels twist over his cataleptic shape.
(03.18.14) 32.
Suddenly-- sun halts, chest inflates, eyes flare.
51 INT. STREET - SAME 51
A CAR SPEEDS toward 1ST PLATOON. MARINES open fire with
the feeble POP-POP of M4s. The car still coming--
A SNIPER SHOT BOOMS across the sky like thunder. The
windshield spiders, blood splattered, and the car stops.
As Marines search rooftops for him-- THE CAR EXPLODES.
52 INT. LOOTED ROOM, ELIZABETH STREET - EVENING 52
CHRIS plants a loop-hole charge at the base of the wall
and steps around the corner to trigger the charge.
CUT BETWEEN:
INT. HALLWAY, DOWN ELIZABETH STREET - SAME
Black robes draw across mosaic tiles as "PHANTOM SNIPER"
slips down a hallway. A Dragunov Sniper Rifle over
shoulder, he hears the loop-hole charge detonate nearby
and turns, entering a tiled washroom to his left.
This is "MUSTAFA".
LOOTED ROOM / CHRIS
CHRIS lays his kit in front of the blast-hole: gun, flag,
Bible. Packs a dip, elbows meet cement, eye meets glass--
WASHROOM / MUSTAFA
MUSTAFA lays in front of a mortar-hole. In a leather
satchel: ammo, oil, cell phones. His eye meets glass--
LOOTED ROOM
CHRIS finds his stillness. The instant he does-- SHADOWS
CREEP over him and night swallows the room.
53 EXT. ELIZABETH STREET - NIGHT 53
A palm tree burns like a candle over Fallujah. Below it,
head-lamps dance chaotic as VIPER TEAM MARINES exit a
house spray-painting "X" on the gate.
(03.18.14) 33.
MARINE VIPER #1
--hot as Bigfoot's ballsack over here.
(knocks on next gate)
Derka, derka, derka....
MARINE VIPERS laugh, bowling into a courtyard.
CHRIS SCOPE POV (N/V)
Glowing green hue. CROSS-HAIRS track the Marines entry,
sweep the street and push toward the rooftop, when--
A SHOT SOUNDS. A MARINE FALLS in a 2nd story window.
MARINE VIPER #4 (OS)
(over radio)
--Fuck! Man down! It came through the
window--
CROSS-HAIRS whip across rooftops, on a swivel.
CHRIS (OC)
That was sniper fire. Shooter is on our
side of Elizabeth street. Over.
MARINE VIPER CO (OS)
Negative. East side of Elizabeth is
locked-down. Over.
Viper Marines drag the soldier out. In the phosphorous
green glow, we watch his body tremor as he dies.
SFX: CHRIS' ELEVATED HEARTBEAT pounds over scene as--
WASHROOM
MUSTAFA flees down the hall. A fluttering shadow in
darkness, except for the reflective swoosh on his Nikes.
LOOTED ROOM
Chris lays on the gun, brow pinched with onus, silence
like a scream. This happened on my watch.
CHRIS SCOPE POV (N/V)
CROSS-HAIRS TRACK across the city-scape. TIME LAPSES and
the world (in scope) SPEEDS UP. Humvees and tanks streak
past, lights blur, trees blow in choppy havoc, then--
TIME SLOWS to a crawl as CROSS-HAIRS FIND A MALE hurrying
into a alley, pulling shit from a pack. We zero-in and--
a flame flickers. The male is smoking opium.
(03.18.14) 34.
CROSS-HAIRS drift off him and TIME SPEEDS UP, dogs eat a
rotting body by the roadside, vicious in fast motion. TWO
WOMEN wobble down the road with buckets, wind whips
roadside grass into a tizzy and WE HALT ON--
CROSS-HAIRS ON A PERFECT CIRCLE in the grass, a rifle-
barrel? Stay on it. In stillness it finds context; a
RUSTY PIPE. TIME SPEEDS FORWARD, TWO BOYS zip by on a
Vespa, OLD MEN frantically bow to mecca on rooftops.
Clouds boil across dawn sky. His eye never leaves glass.
MARC LEE
Smells like piss in here.
(no response)
You covered our ass out there, man.
Appreciate it. Those were ballsy shots.
CHRIS KYLE
And they were clean. Right?
MARC LEE
Hell yeah, they were.
CHRIS
(finally looks up)
That sniper walked right up our ass.
MARC LEE
I chewed out our security detail. It
won't happen again.
CHRIS
My shooter statements are on the dresser.
Marc Lee picks up a stack of YELLOW PAPERS on the desk.
MARC LEE
Six?
CHRIS
Should be eight. Two got dragged off.
(off Marc)
Something wrong?
MARC LEE
No... but you got more kills than the
rest of the snipers combined.
Chris rubs red "shooter's strawberries" from his elbows.
CHRIS
They still got one of our guys.
(03.18.14) 35.
MARC LEE
You can't shoot what you can't see.
Marc's eyes land on piss-stained cement where Chris lay;
this fucker didn't take his eye off the glass all night.
54 EXT. CAMP FALLUJAH -FORWARD OPERATING BASE(FOB)- EVENING 54
Behind miles of wire, a twenty-acre BASE CAMP. Aluminum
trailers, shithouses and tent farms. A Humvee pulls past--
55 INT. CHARLIE COMPANY BARRACKS, CAMP FALLUJAH - NIGHT 55
Chris steps in, letting the air-conditioning blow down on
him. Cots, lockers and cruise-boxes line the room.
Biggles reads a PUNISHER graphic novel, doesn't look up.
BIGGLES
Heard you got your dick wet.
CHRIS
Where is everybody?
BIGGLES
We're just picking our dicks here,
training those fucking haji soldiers.
CHRIS
Why ain't you out there?
BIGGLES
I got the shits. Marc Lee said you were
on fuckin fire out there.
CHRIS
(shedding gear)
You still read comic books?
BIGGLES
It's a fuckin graphic novel. Talk to me,
man. Did you pop your cherry?
A heaviness falls over Chris, then slowly--
CHRIS
This kid didn't even have hair on his
balls and his mom hands him a grenade--
sends him running off to kill Marines.
BIGGLES
(sees his hurt)
You saw his balls?
(03.18.14) 36.
CHRIS
It was evil, man. That was hate like I've
never seen it before.
BIGGLES
That kid could've taken out ten Marines--
CHRIS
(wrestling with it)
I know.
BIGGLES
You did your job. End of fuckin story.
CHRIS
It's just not how you imagine the first
one going down.
BIGGLES
How about the other ones? What about the
other kills?
CHRIS
The other ones-- were righteous. Like God
was blowing on my bullets.
He's joking but not. Biggles smiles, jealous.
SNIPER SEQUENCE
OVERWATCH
CROSS-HAIRS land on INSURGENT WITH RIFLE; INSURGENT
PEEPING three times; INSURGENT BURYING IEDs. BAM-BAM-BAM.
ANOTHER SNIPER (OS)
--that you again Kyle?
CROSS-HAIRS are moving, no answer follows.
MARINE INTEL TRAILER
Chris is covered in dust, sitting in a small chair facing
two clean, well rested JAG OFFICERS.
JAG OFFICER
Our task here is to make sure every kill
is a righteous kill and conforms to ROEs.
CHRIS
By every kill, do you mean just our kills
or you're monitoring the bad guys too?
(03.18.14) 37.
JAG OFFICER #2
Your scores at sniper school were average
at best, then you get here and you're
just lighting the world on fire?
Chris opens a PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE, sips it, waits--
CHRIS
Sorry, was that a question?
OVERWATCH
Chris takes over for a MARINE SNIPER in a window.
MARINE SNIPER
Haven't seen shit all day. Maybe the war
is over and they forgot to tell us.
Chris settles in, still going through his ritual when AN
INSURGENT crosses the street with CAR BATTERY and AK-47.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
I got a armed military-aged male moving
tactically with a car battery. Maybe he
needs a jump?
COMMANDING OFFICER (OS)
(over radio)
Negative. Bomb maker. Green-light.
Exhale, pause, pull. A SHOT RINGS OUT.
MARINE SNIPER (OS)
(just offstage)
--are you fucking serious?
MARINE INTEL TRAILER
CHRIS scrunches that EMPTY WATER BOTTLE, gratingly, as
JAG OFFICERS continue the interrogation:
JAG OFFICER
His wife said he was carrying a Koran.
CHRIS
Well, I don't know what a Koran looks
like but I can describe what he was
carrying-- it was pressed metal, fired
7.62s and looked just like an AK-47.
MESS HALL
(03.18.14) 38.
CHRIS, BIGGLES, D and DAUBER enter. Eyes find them, heads
nodding to Chris, that the guy? Word spreading.
Biggles sees it, hops up on a chair--
BIGGLES
Listen up ladies and genitals. The Legend
here would like you to know that when it
comes to sniping it's better to be lucky
than good! Our boy here has a Texas
horseshoe crammed so far up his ass that--
Chris flings a cafeteria tray at his head.
56 EXT. ROOFTOP - DAWN 56
In murky predawn light, CHRIS sits on a SATELLITE PHONE--
TAYA (OS)
Have you killed anyone yet?
CHRIS
That's not how the call-home goes, babe.
TAYA (OS)
Don't be weird with me. Seriously. I want
you to tell me everything.
Chris covers the phone as distant gunfire chatters.
INTER-CUT WITH:
57 INT. CHRIS & TAYA'S HOUSE, SAN DIEGO - SAME 57
TAYA sits in front of a partially assembled baby-crib
with a six month baby bump. She turns down the TV.
CHRIS
There are things we can't say over the
phone.
TAYA
(playful)
You knocked me up and now I'm stuck here
by myself assembling baby-cribs and you
can't talk to me? That's the big plan?
HIS CROSS-HAIRS track across a distant rooftop. Socks
sway from a clothesline in a 5 knot breeze.
TAYA
You guys almost done over there yet?
(03.18.14) 39.
CHRIS
I can't stop thinking about that pink
silky thing you wore on our honeymoon...
TAYA
It's called a nightgown.
CHRIS
Yeah--
TAYA
And three days is not a honeymoon.
CHRIS
It was a good three days. I miss you bad.
TAYA
(curls up in chair)
You want me to talk dirty to you?
CHRIS
Yeah. But I got my gun in one hand and
the phone in the other--
TAYA
Well, you'll just have to decide what's
more important.
CHRIS
You're horny preggers.
TAYA
Fat and horny. It's kinda disgusting.
CHRIS
You could be 300 pounds I'd still do you.
She's touched, hormonal, starts crying.
TAYA
-So romantic.
CHRIS
How's my boy?
TAYA
Nobody said it's a boy--
CROSS-HAIRS TRACK INSURGENTS on the street; then linger
on a parked car, measuring distance by height--
CHRIS
I can't wait to see the way you are with
him. You're gonna be incredible.
(03.18.14) 40.
TAYA
(harbors doubt)
How do you know?
CHRIS
I just know. I can see it.
TAYA
I hope you're right.
Her face falls as-- TV NEWS shows the graphic of
"American Death Toll in Iraq." The number is 835.
TAYA
(suddenly)
Did your dad get hold of you?
CHRIS
I haven't checked any email.
CROSS-HAIRS follow insurgents as they slip out of view.
TAYA
Shit. You need to call him. Hang up and--
CHRIS
What happened?
TAYA
I'm so selfish. I wasn't even thinking--
CHRIS
Taya.
TAYA
Your little brother deployed.
CHRIS
What happened to jump school? I thought--
TAYA
He didn't get in. Just call your dad--
CHRIS
Deployed where? Where's he going?
TAYA
Over there. He's headed to Iraq.
The news ricochets around inside him like razor blades.
TRANSITION TO:
(03.18.14) 41.
FIVE MEN IN BALACLAVAS stand over an AMERICAN HOSTAGE in
an orange jumpsuit. The thick Jihadist leader draws a
machete to behead his hostage. VIDEO PAUSES.
COL. GRONSKI (OC)
The man with the blade is a Jordanian
radical funded by Bin Laden, trained by
Bin Laden and loyal to Bin Laden.
58 INT. OP BRIEF TENT - DAWN 58
COLONEL GRONSKI is an old-school bulldozer. 75 Marines
study an OLD PHOTO OF AL-ZARQAWI, bushy black eyebrows.
COL. GRONSKI
His name is "Zarqawi" and he is the
prince of al-Qaeda in Iraq. AQI, his
mercenary army, are 5000 strong. They're
trained well, paid well and waging the
heaviest urban combat since Vietnam.
FIND CHRIS in back, scanning heads for his brother Jeff.
COL. GRONSKI
Zarqawi and his Lieutenants are our
highest priority. Only way to root them
out is to go house-to-house until we find
them, or someone who will reveal their
whereabouts. We need to clear ten
structures an hour. It's aggressive so
we'll loosen things up with air support--
Chris looks to Marc Lee, ten structures an hour?
59 EXT. CAMP FALLUJAH - MORNING 59
The sun hangs like a blood-clot in the sky. Chris and
Marc Lee are walking, TALKING LOW--
CHRIS
These Marines rush in like they been
doing, they'll get their asses shot off.
MARC LEE
They're Marines. They don't get the
training we do. Half of them were
civilians six months ago.
Chris reacts, hearing him describing Jeff.
(03.18.14) 42.
CHRIS
So let's coach them up. I'll show them
how Team Guys do it and lead a unit in
the street.
MARC LEE
Can't do. We need you on overwatch.
CHRIS
But if I was down in the street--
MARC LEE
House-to-house is the deadliest job here.
You got some kind of savior complex?
Maybe.
CHRIS
I just wanna get the bad guys. And I
can't shoot them if I can't see `em.
MARC LEE
You got a hot hand. These Marines all
know your name now and they think they're
invincible with you up there.
CHRIS
They're not--
MARC LEE
They are if they believe they are. Just
keep banging on the long-gun and let
these ground-pounders sniff out Zarqawi.
Marc walks off leaving Chris biting at a shamal wind.
CUT TO:
AN F-18 RIPS OVERHEAD firing 500lb JDAMs into the next
block. Smoke and dust billow outward--
60 INT. ROOFTOP 60
Under a fluttering canopy, CHRIS lays on the gun, cursing
zero visibility. GOAT camps nearby, on a GameBoy.
CHRIS
You said that AQI sniper was in the
Olympics-- but Iraq hasn't qualified a
shooter in the last three games.
GOAT
Mustafa's not Iraqi. He's from Syria.
(03.18.14) 43.
Chris steals a glance at him, processing this as--
CHRIS SCOPE POV
KILO COMPANY MARINES JOG to a pink house with windows
boarded up. One of the Marines looks like Jeff Kyle.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
Once you make entry I can't see shit, so
keep it slow and push through the target.
"Jeff Marine" sets a charge, turns-- not Jeff.
The door blows off. Marines rush in. GUNFIRE POPS.
Marines rush back out, dragging a WOUNDED MARINE.
CHRIS
Fuck this-- I'm going down to clear
houses with the Marines. You coming?
GOAT
No man. No. I like my life. I wanna make
it home. I go fishing and do all kind of
cool shit. It's not my job to knock down
doors. Those guys picked the wrong
fucking job. I ain't doing that shit.
CHRIS
(smiles)
If I don't see you down there, you make
sure I don't see you again.
61 INT. STREET, SOLDIER'S DISTRICT - MINUTES LATER 61
KILO COMPANY firing on the structure. "CPT. GILLESPIE"
(smart, sunburned) is shouting "hold your fire" as--
CHRIS
(bowls up)
You wanna be a sniper? Swap me guns.
"JEFF" MARINE
Really?
CHRIS
I'll roll with you guys if that's cool?
CPT. GILLESPIE
Hey, any Navy Seal is cool by me.
"THOMPSON" (big, wobbly voice) nods, lugging an M240G.
(03.18.14) 44.
THOMPSON
You're that guy. They're calling you The
Legend. You got like 24 confirmed kills.
He recognizes his way to gain entry, so he plays it up.
CHRIS
It's 32. But who's counting.
THOMPSON
That's badass.
"SANCHEZ" (neck tattoos, Catholic) chimes in.
SANCHEZ
There's some boy in Bravo catching up.
CHRIS KYLE
(packs a dip)
Y'all are meateaters for sure but I got a
little training I could show you, some
simple shit, that might just keep us
above ground. What do you say?
His need to protect cloaked beneath cool cowboy calm.
62 OMITTED 62
63 EXT. MICHIGAN STREET - OUTSIDE THE WIRE - DAY 63
KILO COMPANY are doing house-to-house. On the job
training. Tension high, they're bunched around a doorway.
CHRIS motions them back, not so close, sets a charge--
64 INT. HOUSE, DAY 64
BOOM!-- KILO COMPANY ENTER a house with chandeliers and
regal armoires. They clear the room, CHRIS teaching them
how to move together, giving hand signals.
SANCHEZ
(low)
-Whas that mean again?
GILLESPIE
Cover and follow.
He follows Chris into a room with sofas, exotic rugs and--
(03.18.14) 45.
A KID(12) stands across the room with dark eyes and
pronounced forehead, staring at Chris.
CHRIS
Down. Down! On the floor, now!
THE KID is rocking on his heels like he's going to run.
CHRIS
I will fucking shoot you! Down! Get down--
FATHER OF KID (OS)
No, please--
THE FATHER runs in, tall and bearded. Gillespie clocks
him and he drops. The Kid screams like he's deaf.
FATHER OF KID
(from the floor)
Please! He can't understand. Look at him--
GILLESPIE
He does look a little retarded.
CHRIS
You were ordered to evacuate. Why are you
still here?
FATHER OF KID
This is our home. I won't give it to
them. Or to you.
SANCHEZ pushes THREE WOMEN (in berkas) into the room.
SANCHEZ
I found these bitches in the back closet.
FATHER OF KID
I'm Sheikh al-Obeidi. You are my guest
but please tell the others to come
inside. If they are in the street he will
know we have spoken.
SANCHEZ
This sand nig' want us in here so he can
blow us up. Check his ass for a vest.
A KETTLE whistles in the kitchen. Guns still trained.
CHRIS
Who will know we've spoken?
(03.18.14) 46.
SHEIK AL-OBEIDI/FATHER
Your enemy is mine enemy. We share this.
You understand?
Chris studies the women, and lowers his gun.
CHRIS
Bring the other guys in.
TIME CUT - LATER
Chris and Gillespie sit with "SHEIK AL-OBEIDI" while the
kid ("OMAR") plays with his father's hair.
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
If we talk to US soldiers he will come to
our home and make examples of us--
CHRIS
Who is he? I need a name.
The Marine Interpreter aka "TERP" (20s, in mismatched
camo, face bandanna) repeats the question.
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
The man who comes we call The Butcher.
He is the despaired one, son of Shaytan--
Sheik mumbles in Arabic, fearing the words on his tongue.
TERP
He calls him - the pure flame of fire- .
Basically, this man comes to their house
and prey on the weak with hurt.
CHRIS
So he's some kind of enforcer?
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
Enforcer. Yes. Top soldier of Zarqawi.
CHRIS
(jumps)
We want Zarqawi. Where do we find
Zarqawi?
OMAR CACKLES like a crow, playing peeking games.
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
If you find The Butcher you will see he
reports direct to Zarqawi each day.
An F-18 rips overhead. RADIO CHATTER. THOMPSON steps out--
(03.18.14) 47.
CHRIS
How do we find him?
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
You must understand the risk to us.
TERP
He will ask for money.
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
We need one hundred thousand US dollars.
THE BOOM of distant ordinance shakes the structure.
CHRIS
We don't even have proof this guy exists.
The Sheik grabs his wife, pulls her arm from her robe--
her hand has been hacked off, the stump healing.
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
Is this not proof?
CHRIS
I'm sorry. I want to help you. I do. But
I need names, places, phone numbers--
THOMPSON
(rushes in)
Hey, we got a Marine unit pinned down in
a house just uprange--
CHRIS
Give me a name, Sheik. Give me something.
THOMPSON
They're out of ammo. If we don't go now--
Sheik stonewalling, Chris stands to go, fuck--
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
"Amir Khalaf Fanus". This is given name
of The Butcher. But to help you find him--
Sheikh Obeidi SWEEPS A HAND across his open palm, pay me.
TRANSITION TO:
Chris sweeps a hand across his open palm, pay me. We are--
(03.18.14) 48.
65 INT. DIA TRAILER, CAMP FALLUJAH - DAY 65
CHRIS and MARC LEE sit in front of AGENT SHEAD, of the
Defense Intelligence Agency. A game of solitaire open on
his computer. CORNHUSKER football posters on his wall.
AGENT SHEAD
I guess that translates to "pay me" in
just about any language, doesn't it?
CHRIS
Yes sir, it does.
MARC LEE
And you're the secret squirrel with the
cash, right?
AGENT SHEAD
(not amused)
When you were having tea with Sheik al-
Obedie did he tell you he ran a network
of highway bandits before AQI moved in?
CHRIS KYLE
He left that part out.
AGENT SHEAD
That's AQI's racket now. Your Sheik got
edged out. This could be blowback.
CHRIS
Or he could be upset The Butcher cut off
his wife's hand. Either way, seems like
you'd wanna explore it.
Shead would rather not enter into this with them but--
he slides a white-board to reveal an AQI HIERARCHY.
AGENT SHEAD
This is your guy here.
(points to photo directly
under Zarqawi)
We believe The Butcher is Zarqawi's
number two man.
THE BUTCHER is a squat, rawboned man with eyebrows
forming a grizzled line over dark bloodshot eyes.
CHRIS
But you don't know his real name or you'd
have it written up there.
(03.18.14) 49.
AGENT SHEAD
We have several aliases--
(picks up phone, dialing)
If "Fanus" is legit we go see the Sheik.
MARC LEE
He's asking for 100,000.
AGENT SHEAD
If he delivers the Butcher he'll get it.
(into phone)
This is Agent Shead, DIA, I need a name
check on "Amir Khalaf Fanus." I'll wait.
He kicks his feet up, like he runs the war.
CHRIS
If we're going back out, TEAM 3 could
pull security--
AGENT SHEAD
If we're humping money the head-shed will
want contractors on it.
(into phone)
I'm here. What do you got?
He listens a beat. His feet hit the floor. Eyes flick up.
66 INT. HUMVEE #2 - TWO DAYS LATER 66
An object thumps beneath the tires. SECURITY CONTRACTORS
wear baseball caps, Oakley blades and grizzled beards.
CONTRACTOR
Road-kill.
They sit on benches opposite CHRIS and MARC LEE, a shrink-
wrapped PALLET OF CASH between them. AGENT SHEAD sits
closest the driver, playing big-dick with the mercs.
AGENT SHEAD
The Butcher is Zarqawi's enforcer. They
say his weapon of choice is a drill.
Chris looks to Marc Lee, eyes closed in prayer. When he
opens them he sees Chris looking. The rig sways.
MARC LEE
I went to seminary school before I joined
the Navy. Came close to being a preacher.
CHRIS
Why didn't you?
(03.18.14) 50.
MARC LEE
I love to gamble, man. Love those dice.
Their laughter is liberating. It bonds them.
CHRIS
My kind of preacher.
MORE LAUGHTER. A PHONE RINGS. Chris digs out a SAT PHONE.
MARC LEE
It's like that now, huh?
CHRIS KYLE
You haven't heard? I'm The Legend.
(laughs at self; into phone)
Hey babe--
TAYA (OS)
You were right, doctor says it's a boy.
CHRIS KYLE
It's a boy!
MARC LEE
Hell yeah. Congratu--
WHAAP! Windshield spiders. CONTRACTOR/DRIVER'S brains
spackle them. THE HUMVEE CRASHES into a storefront.
RADIATOR HISSING, CONTRACTORS SCREAMING, "Call for
backup" "Capel is down" "Dump the truck, cover us."
67 EXT. MEDICAL PLAZA, SAN DIEGO - DAY 67
A crowded quad. TAYA, ON THE PHONE, stops in her tracks.
TAYA
Chris!--
EXT. CITY SQUARE/ STREET
Looted shops, burnt awnings, colorful signage. MARC LEE
and CHRIS pile out. THE SAT PHONE falls in the dirt.
MARC LEE
I heard one shot.
CHRIS KYLE
Check. Large caliber. Came in at an
angle, gotta be 300 or more out--
(03.18.14) 51.
They duck into a bomb-blasted storefront. They're looking
downrange from the jagged orifice when-- A SHOT THUNKS
into a painted Leo DiCaprio billboard overhead.
MARC LEE
(ducks back)
He's all over us. You get a bead?
CHRIS KYLE
Negative--
AGENT SHEAD (OC)
Transfer the pallet. We're pulling back.
68 INT. DISTANT MINARET 68
MUSTAFA sprawled on the balcony. PUSH past the swoosh of
Nikes, up dark robes, along the cut of an unshaven cheek--
MUSTAFA SCOPE POV
UNIQUE CROSS-HAIRS wobble past CHRIS and MARC LEE'S
position to CONTRACTORS SCRAMBLING SHEAD into the street.
Mirage boils straight up. A breath exhales--
69 INT. STOREFRONT 69
A BULLET SMOKES through CONTRACTOR #1, ejecting half his
vertebrae. CONTRACTORS SCRAMBLING--
CHRIS
Minaret, 11 o'clock!
AGENT SHEAD
(from Humvee)
There's no room. We'll come back for you--
Agent Shead and Contractors pull away in Humvee #2.
An INSURGENT GUNNER steps from a door just uprange,
BLASTING ROUNDS at the retreating vehicle.
CHRIS
You got eyes on that?
MARC LEE
Negative.
Their cover prevents line-of-sight. Chris reaches his
rifle out ADJUSTING A SIDE-MIRROR on the crashed Humvee--
UPRANGE (IN REFLECTION)
(03.18.14) 52.
THE BUTCHER drags OMAR from Sheikh Al-Obeidi's home by
his hair. The boy's strange screams echo down the block
as the Butcher revs a hand drill near his face--
CHRIS
Eyes on The Butcher. He's got that
Sheikh's kid in the street--
TWO INSURGENTS holds Sheik Al-Obeidi in the doorway as--
A SNIPER ROUND SHATTERS the Humvee mirror.
CHRIS
Fuck!--
MARC LEE
(into radio)
--requesting back-up. We're pinned down
taking sniper fire on approach of high-
value target, GRID 04536236. Over.
Chris tries to edge around the wall-- PHWAAAP! The wall
explodes above his head. He turns to the room. Debris
blocks a back-door. No way out.
MARC LEE
We're on the wrong end of this.
CHRIS
I'm gonna pop smoke for cover but don't
move till I say.
Chris tosses smoke. A haze clouds the exit--
CHRIS
Hold.
The drill revs. Omar is screaming. Smoke spewing.
MARC LEE
We gotta go--
CHRIS
Holding! Hold...
A SHOT RINGS OUT, CHUNKS CONCRETE near the exit.
CHRIS
Move now. Go--
They slip out the storefront, around the building--
MARC LEE
How you know he'd wait--
(03.18.14) 53.
CHRIS
Cause I'd wait.
In the smoky haze, A SAT PHONE in the dirt--
70 EXT. MEDICAL PLAZA, SAN DIEGO 70
TAYA listens for gunfire as the lunch crowd teems past.
TAYA
(sobbing, into phone)
Chris--
CAMERA CIRCLES HER as her world comes unhinged. On the
next revolution the scenery changes and--
MUSTAFA POV / FROM MINARET
CROSS-HAIRS TRACK past the doorway where--
SHEIKH AL-OBEIDI
Is held back by INSURGENT GUNMEN, weeping and pleading--
THE BUTCHER
He powers up the drill and drives it into Omar's thigh.
OMAR SCREAMS and pitches, shrieking for help--
ALLEY
Chris and Marc racing down an alley, approaching stairs--
CHRIS
Go around. I'll go high.
Chris bounds up the stairs. Marc Lee keeps running--
ROOFTOP
CHRIS runs onto the exposed rooftop, running into-- A DOG
SNAPS at him, BARKING and rabid, chained to a US sig M-
60. He dives away from it, crouching behind the wall.
SNIPER POV / IN MINARET
CROSS-HAIRS FIND the barking dog, then CHRIS' BOOT.
THE BUTCHER
Powers up the drill, THE BUZZING rings over his words--
(03.18.14) 54.
THE BUTCHER
(in Arabic)
You talk to them, you die with them.
He steps on Omar's neck, lowers the drill toward his jaw.
CHRIS
Hears the drill and Omar's screams. He'll be exposed but--
HE POPS UP to shoot The Butcher. Before he can get set--
A SNIPER ROUND clips his helmet. He's knocked flat-back.
Clouds strobe overhead. The dog barks viciously inches
from his face. Saliva flying off incisors as--
THE SHEIKH
Watches the drill enter his son's face. The Sheikh breaks
free of the Butcher's men, running towards his son. TWO
AKs shred his back and he pitches forward, reaching--
SNIPER POV
As the Butcher and his men drive away, CROSS-HAIRS track
across the rooftop, where--
ROOFTOP / CHRIS POV (UPSIDE DOWN)
His helmet, ruptured like a plum, wobbles to a stop.
CHRIS
Rage animates him. He staggers to his feet, FIRING HIS M4
on the minaret until the clip expires. Then--
A FLUTTER of cloth sweeps across an alley a block north.
MUSTAFA slows, rounding the corner, and glances back--
Chris draws his .45, but Mustafa slips into the shadows.
Women sob over dead bodies in the street below.
71 EXT. STREET - LATER 71
TEAM THREE SEALs hold perimeter. The sheet draped over
Omar is marked by a dozen blood spots. Chris is buzzing
with remorse, looking to the minaret.
CHRIS KYLE
He had line-of-sight 500 meters out.
BIGGLES
Colonel Gronski is all over Marc, bro.
(03.18.14) 55.
In the distance, COLONEL GRONSKI barks at MARC LEE then
climbs in a Bradley. As MARC approaches--
CHRIS
We need to work up a squad to pursue him.
MARC LEE
They're shutting us down.
CHRIS
What do you mean?
MARC LEE
We're confined to base pending an
incident review.
CHRIS
Can he do that? Just shelf us like that?
I ship home in three weeks.
Wind blows the sheet off Omar.
BIGGLES
It's gonna be a long three weeks.
72 EXT. WEIGHT LIFTING CAGE, CAMP FALLUJAH, FOB - SUNSET 72
Chris stalks the cage, shirtless and sweating. His eyes
track the horizon as darkness falls on Fallujah.
73 EXT. NORTH AIRFIELD, CORONADO, CALIFORNIA - NIGHT 73
Halogen spotlights illuminate tarmac. SOLDIERS emerge
from darkness, pushing toward their waiting families.
FIND TAYA in heels, 9 months pregnant. Chris limps toward
her. She walks into his arms and STARTS SWINGING fists.
TAYA
I thought you were dead. I thought--
He holds her close until her rage gives way to tears.
CHRIS
Shh. I'm know. I'm so sorry.
They stand there long after everyone has gone.
(03.18.14) 56.
74 INT. BEDROOM 74
Taya lowers the lights, steps out of her dress and looks
at herself in the mirror, 9 months pregnant, and not sure
she's sexy. Chris exits the shower, stops, staring--
CHRIS
You're the most beautiful thing I've ever
seen.
TAYA
I have an alien growing inside me--
She deflates and sits on the bed. He kneels before her.
TAYA
And there's a strange man in my bedroom.
CHRIS
Our bedroom.
TAYA
(pulls his ring off necklace)
Why isn't it on your finger?
CHRIS
If it catches the light...
He doesn't spell it out. She slips it on his finger.
TAYA
Your hands feel different.
CHRIS
They're mine. I swear...
TAYA
Why am I so fucking nervous?
CHRIS
(kissing her belly)
I'm nervous too.
TAYA
No you're not. Don't lie.
CHRIS
I am... What if that little alien reaches
out and grabs me?
She laughs and squishes his cheeks, making faces with his
face.
(03.18.14) 57.
TAYA
Why are you so good with me.
Her face opens in ecstasy.
75 INT. BREAKFAST TABLE, CHRIS' HOUSE - MORNING 75
CHRIS, showered, shaven and ill-at-ease, picking at the
calloused "shooter's strawberries" on his elbows.
TAYA (OC)
--it might be nice to get out--
His coffee steams like smoke off a barrel.
TAYA (OC)
--are you listening to me? Chris--
CHRIS
(knee pumping)
Huh?--
A lawn-mower starts. His eyes track windows. Taya sees
what's happening and-- she extends a naked leg into his
sight line. His eyes follow her leg, to welcoming eyes.
TAYA
What do you want to do today, hon'?
CHRIS
Maybe we just relax here?
TAYA
Okay, we do that. Let's relax.
She eases into his lap, changing his chemistry.
76 INT. OBGYN OFFICE, SAN DIEGO - DAY 76
A room doused in sunshine. TAYA lays on the table. DOCTOR
HOFFSTADER works the ultra-sound wand over her belly.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
How you feeling?
TAYA
I'm done being pregnant. I want to meet
him.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
It'll be any day now.
(03.18.14) 58.
Chris pets his wife's hair but he's sweaty and flushed.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
How about you Mr. Kyle? How're you
feeling?
CHRIS KYLE
Good. Doing good.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
I imagine you're still decompressing.
CHRIS
Not really.
TAYA
Well, this is the first time we left the
house.
CHRIS
I'm just happy to be home.
Hoffstader studies him, reaches for a b.p. cuff.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
Here, slip this on for me.
He awkwardly consents. The cuff tightens.
CHRIS
If you wanna help, you should be looking
at my knees. I don't know what I did but--
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
Are you a smoker?
CHRIS
No, ma'am.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
Do you drink?
CHRIS
(charming)
Only when I'm thirsty.
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
170 over 110.
TAYA
(concerned)
Jesus Christ Chris...
(03.18.14) 59.
CHRIS
Is that high?
DOCTOR HOFFSTADER
Not if you just had 14 cups of coffee.
But for someone who is sitting down--
CHRIS
I'll look into it. Thanks doc.
He's smiling but his tone quiets her. She overstepped.
77 INT. TRUCK, SOUTHBOUND FREEWAY - DAY 77
CHRIS is weaving through rush-hour traffic.
CHRIS
You sabotaged me back there.
TAYA
What am I supposed to do. You're not
talking. You act like it's all okay--
CHRIS
It is okay. I'm fine.
TAYA
You're not fine. Your blood pressure--
CHRIS
Babe, I'm driving down the freeway, it's
sunny and 72 degrees. I'm fine. But there
are people dying over there and I look
around and it's like it's not even
happening. It's barely on the news, no
one talks about it. No one cares. And if
I stay too long I'll forget about it too.
TAYA
Chris--
CHRIS
We're at war and I'm headed to the mall.
She looks pained, ready to cry--
CHRIS
I don't belong here. I can't help anybody-
She's arching in the seat, MOANING as her water breaks.
TAYA
--it's happening--
(03.18.14) 60.
CHRIS
Oh shit--
Chris swerves from the SOUTHBOUND FAST-LANE across the
dirt median and into the NORTHBOUND FAST-LANE.
TAYA
What're you doing!
CHRIS
I'm going back.
Dust kicks up. Horns blare. He's speeding north.
TAYA
(laughing and crying)
--oh my god, you're crazy! You're fucking
crazy you know that?
A look between them like spilled sunlight. He reaches and-
TRANSITION TO:
Taya grips his hand. Her WAILING SCREAMS fall silent and--
78 INT. DELIVERY ROOM 78
Taya stares blankly at Chris. He thinks he lost her.
Then-- A SMALL CRY breaks the tension. Taya gasps.
THE BOY lands in Chris' arms covered in vernix and blood.
CHRIS
My little man...
He holds him to the light and relief pours over him.
CHRIS
Look at our boy. Look what we did.
(nuzzles close to her)
I love you, baby. We made it--
He holds his family close as BEDOUIN MUSIC SWELLS--
FADE TO:
A THERMAL IMAGE. Cross-hairs on MARINES emerging from
tall grass. A SHOT FIRED. A MARINE FALLS. An Arabic
sickle & sword appears over the image. We are--
(03.18.14) 61.
79 INT. DEN, CHRIS' HOUSE, CORONADO, CA - NIGHT 79
PAN ACROSS an Iraqi parcel on the coffee table. FIND
CHRIS staring at the TV, livid, lit by Christmas lights.
TAYA (OC)
The baby is crying. I thought you were--
Chris lunges for the remote as another KILL SHOT PLAYS.
TAYA
Don't bother turning it off, I already
watched it.
He looks up at her, holding Colton.
TAYA
I had to make sure you didn't have an
Iraqi girlfriend sending sexy videos.
He lightens, touching her, eyes drifting back to the TV.
CHRIS
This sniper is recording his kills.
Mustafa. They sell these in the street.
TAYA
That day we were on the phone--
Chris nods, it was him.
TAYA
You're not protecting me by not talking
about it.
CHRIS
I don't want you thinking about it. I
don't need you worrying.
TAYA
My imagination is so much worse than
anything you could tell me--
CHRIS
(cutting her off)
No, it's not. They're savages.
TAYA
Chris--
CHRIS
They're fuckin savages.
His blood pressure pulses on his unyielding face..
(03.18.14) 62.
TAYA
It's not about them, it's about us.
(hands him baby)
You have to make it back to us.
Her eyes trail off him as she steps into the kitchen.
Chris holds his son, taken with his ruddy innocence. Then
the BEDOUIN MUSIC swells, his arms tighten around his
son, and his eyes are drawn back to Mustafa.
"SECOND TOUR"
80 EXT. AL TAQADDUM AIRBASE, IRAQ - DAY 80
The tail of a C-17 draws down. YOUNG MARINES file off
leaving CHRIS, squinting into a dirty sunset as he tucks
his ring away like he's stowing part of himself.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
(sharp-nosed, fit)
Welcome home, Petty Officer Kyle. Colonel
Jones is waiting. How was the flight?
CHRIS KYLE
Slower than Christmas.
Chris is following him toward a Blackhawk when--
CHRIS
Can you give me a second--?
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
The colonel is waiting--
Chris is already striding across the tarmac toward--
A SQUAD OF MARINES
Loading onto a C-17 weary, injured, heading home. JEFF
KYLE doesn't see Chris until he has hands on him.
CHRIS KYLE
Hey, grunt--
Chris shakes him and pulls him into his arms.
JEFF
Chris?
Jeff is slow to react, like he can't see past the
atrocity branded on back of his eyeballs.
(03.18.14) 63.
CHRIS KYLE
Y'alright? You in one piece?
He looks him over, undamaged but for the eyes.
MARINE LCPL
Let's go, PFC Kyle. Move your ass.
Marines on-board the C-17. Jeff is anxious, shifting--
CHRIS
You okay? Jeff?--
JEFF
I heard you're kickin ass our here. All
the guys, that's what they say--
Chris fixes Jeff's collar: a tender gesture.
JEFF
You're my hero, bro. Always have been.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
Lets go, Kyle. Colonel's waiting--
JEFF
(swollen with emotion)
The Legend...
The four massive turbo-engines on the C-17 kick-on.
JEFF
(over deafening noise)
I'm gonna miss my ride.
CHRIS KYLE
What happened?
JEFF
I'm just tired, man. I'm--
(swallows it)
I'm going home.
CHRIS
I'm proud of you. You hear me?
He can't hear shit over those fans.
CHRIS
Dad too. He's proud of you.
JEFF
Fuck this place--
(03.18.14) 64.
CHRIS
(can't hear him)
What?
JEFF
Fuck this place.
Chris ignites with rage at what they did to his brother.
81 INT. BLACKHAWK - DAY 81
LT. COLONEL JONES is a clear-eyed Ivy grad: the new-
school leadership changing of the guard.
COL. JONES
You made Chief. Congratulations.
CHRIS KYLE
Thank you, sir.
COL. JONES
Gronski's gone. A lot of top-brass are.
We're working off a new playbook now.
The Blackhawk lifts off, ZOOMING across the desert floor.
COL. JONES
I've studied insurgencies for the last
decade. I know every stone thrown since
before the first century. These wars are
won and lost in the minds of our enemy.
He hands over an AQI BOUNTY POSTER with an illustration
of a SNIPER RIFLE and GALLIC CROSS and a reward.
COL. JONES
That you?
Chris rolls his sleeve, showing his Gallic Cross tattoo.
COL. JONES
You're now the most wanted man in Iraq.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
That's $80,000 on your head.
CHRIS KYLE
Don't tell my wife, she might take that
number right about now.
COL. JONES
I understand you wanted to put together a
direct-action squad to hunt The Butcher.
(03.18.14) 65.
CHRIS KYLE
Yes, sir.
COL. JONES
We plugged the rat-hole that is Fallujah
and flushed them into Ramadi. We got some
intel indicating his area of operations.
As they cross the Euphrates the SLUMS OF RAMADI are laid
out before them like a blanket of chaos.
COL. JONES
I want you to put the fear of God in
these savages, and find his ass.
82 INT. OP SEC TENT, SHARK BASE - NIGHT 82
CHRIS stands in front of Team Three, armed with a 60-inch
monitor and a TuffBook. They're chanting, "Power-point."
CHRIS
You guys know how I hate this shit so
shut your traps. Our target is Amir
Khalaf Fanus aka The Butcher.
(clicks first slide)
We'll be heading in under cover of
darkness, sector P13, north of the river--
They're cracking up. He turns to see his slide has been
hijacked with A PHOTO OF HIS BACHELOR PARTY; the "best
men" pose with a spray-painted groom. They look so young.
Chris turns back to his men and, for a moment, their
smiling faces appear immortal in the feeble light.
TIME FADE
Brief finished, TEAM THREE file out past Chris--
BIGGLES
You give good power-point, Legend.
--grabbing ass and cracking jokes until one remains.
MARC LEE
Is this thing bulletproof?
(holds Chris' Bible)
You never open it so I assumed...
CHRIS KYLE
God, country, family, right?
(03.18.14) 66.
MARC LEE
You got a God?
CHRIS KYLE
You getting weird on me?
MARC LEE
We had this electric fence around our
property in Oregon and us kids used to
see who could grab it and hang on the
longest. War feels like that, it puts
lightning in your bones, makes it hard to
hold on to anything else.
CHRIS KYLE
You need to sit this one out?
MARC LEE
I just wanna believe in what we're doing--
CHRIS KYLE
Evil lives here, we've seen it.
MARC LEE
It lives everywhere--
CHRIS KYLE
You want to invite these motherfuckers to
come fight in San Diego? Or New York?
We're protecting more than this dirt.
Marc adopts his zeal, letting it fill him.
MARC LEE
Hooyah then. Lets go kill this fucker.
He bangs out. Chris is alone. Lightning in his bones.
83 OMITTED 83
84 OMITTED 84
86 OMITTED 86
87 EXT. STREET/NEAR FAHIMA HALAL - PRE-DAWN 87
Neon shimmers across wet empty streets. TEAM THREE
trundle past shops largely unbombed. TONY checks his GPS--
(03.18.14) 67.
TONY
(whisper-mic, pointing)
This building, any apartment on the east
side, will look down Fahima Halal.
88 INT. HALLWAY, 4TH FLOOR, BUILDING - CONTINUOUS 88
TEAM THREE push to a door. Biggles has a cat-claw, ready
to breach-- A BABY CRIES behind the door. Chris waves
them off. Another door.
CHRIS
(whisper-mic)
Breacher-up.
BIGGLES is ready to wedge the cat-claw when he sees keys
hanging from the door. He grins and simply opens it--
89 INT. CORNER APARTMENT, SIXTH FLOOR 89
A modest apartment. TEAM THREE have seated the family;
A PROTECTIVE FATHER hugs his BOY(6) as his WIFE frets.
CHRIS
Tell em they won't be leaving till we do--
(hands Terp a photo)
Ask if they seen him.
TERP TRANSLATES, showing a PHOTO OF THE BUTCHER.
LOOKING OUT WINDOW
The RESTAURANT BELOW is boarded up with painted metal.
BIGGLES
(Hall & Oates song)
--Private eyes, we're watching you,
watching your every move...
"D"
Why a restaurant?
MARC LEE
Big freezers.
Marc turns away, leaving them to wonder.
CHRIS
Let's keep eyes on it get pictures of
anyone coming and going.
Biggles watches Chris collapse onto his ruck-sack.
(03.18.14) 68.
BIGGLES
Fucking Chief Nappy-nap.
A challenging smile. Chris flips him off.
"D"
Got some nice rugs up in here.
(thumbs up to Father)
This shit is hand-knotted. Beautiful.
Surveillance rolling, Chris closes his eyes.
90 OMITTED 90
91 OMITTED 91
92 TIME CUT - LATER 92
In darkness, CHRIS bolts upright then sees his guys by
the window. He joins them. Despite rolling blackouts,
light is visible around plywood on Fahima Halal windows.
CHRIS
What do we got?
MARC LEE
16 military aged males have gone in.
CHRIS
Sixteen?
BIGGLES
They serve more customers than McDonalds.
MARC LEE
And check this.
ON DIGI-CAMERA, ZOOMS ON PHOTO of The Butcher entering--
CHRIS
He still inside?
MARC LEE
I'm only clocking one point of entry.
He's in there, but it's no easy breach.
BIGGLES
When they see it's The Legend they'll
probably just invite him in--
(03.18.14) 69.
CHRIS
You got a problem? I didn't promote
myself.
BIGGLES
No, I did it for you. You'd never have
made Chief if I nicknamed you "The Myth".
Chris snaps Biggles down, wrestles him into a choke.
"D"
Myth becomes Legend when we occupy a
house, get 23 kills, and 21 are his.
TONY
Enough. It's everybody's Navy.
Chris releases him. Biggles is coughing.
BIGGLES
--naw, it's Legend's Navy now. Just hope
he leaves some for the rest of us.
CHRIS
Hash out tactics. We go at zero-dark. And
Big Giggles is making the coffee.
Biggles is flipping him off when the FATHER SPEAKS:
TERP
(translates)
He invites you to join him for Eid al-
Adha supper. He says -on this day
everyone has a seat at my table-.
Chris nods dubious gratitude, meeting the Father's eyes.
CHRIS
Tell him that's very generous of him.
DINING ROOM - LATER
A braised head of lamb eaten clean. TEAM 3 are chowing
down, in good spirits, as Chris watches THE FATHER teach
his SON to read. He is moved by their connection and
acutely aware of what this war is costing him.
That's when he sees-- (ECU) "SHOOTERS STRAWBERRIES" on
father's elbows. They're red and calloused, like his own.
Chris darkens, stands and slips down the hall--
BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER
(03.18.14) 70.
CHRIS searches the closet, ripping through clothes,
pressing wall panels. He's crossing to the bed when--
FLOORBOARDS CREAK beneath the rug underfoot. He stands
there, shifting his weight, floor creaking.
DINING ROOM/HALLWAY
BIGGLES is shoveling food in his mouth when a hand stops
him. Chris signals, no more. FATHER'S eyes flick up as--
CHRIS RIPS THE FATHER out of his chair, dragging him down
the hall by his hair. WIFE and KIDS screaming. "D" holds
them off as-- Chris dumps the father at a STASH HOLE in
the floor. Inside, a CACHE OF AKs, RPGs, IED components.
CHRIS
Tell him he's gonna be shipped off for
detention and the Iraqi courts can decide
what to do with him-- or he can help us
get inside that restaurant down there.
MARC LEE
That's a bad move--
BIGGLES
He's our breech. He's a fucking way in--
MARC LEE
If something happens--
BIGGLES
He's AQI man, look what he's holding.
CHRIS
It's his choice. Tell him.
The Terp translates. Father reacts, pale with defiance.
93 EXT. FAHIM HALAL - NIGHT 93
THE FATHER shuffles up the dusty street toward us--
"D" (VO)
Approaching the door...
IN ADJACENT ALLEY
CHRIS, MARC LEE and "D" waiting...
"D"
10 meters...
(03.18.14) 71.
BACK ALLEY
TONY and BIGGLES watching...
"D" (VO)
5 meters...
SNIPERS NEST
DAUBER watches with cross-hairs.
"D" (VO)
He's knocking...
AT THE DOOR
A sliding grate opens and--
"D" (VO)
They're vetting him.
GUARD'S POV
FATHER attempts to alert the Guard, nodding to the TWO
MEN in robes at the oil drum. Guard doesn't see it--
"D"
Hold. Hold--
CHRIS POV (N/V)
As the door opens, the GUARD comes into view--
"D" (OS)
Now.
Chris fires and the GUARD'S HEAD explodes. FATHER dives
for Guard's weapon, FIRING BACK at Chris when--
GUNFIRE FROM INSIDE shreds him. He folds forward, dead.
TWO MEN in robes (TONY & BIGGLES) rush the door tossing
grenades, pulling the father out as the GRENADES EXPLODE.
CHRIS, MARC LEE and "D" push inside--
94 INT. FAHIM HALAL - NIGHT 94
A smoky banquet hall. GUNFIRE lights from far wall. A man
we recognize as THE BUTCHER is ushered through a doorway.
(03.18.14) 72.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
We have eyes on the target. Flushing them
out the back--
IN THE ALLEY
TONY and BIGGLES are posted in the alley, waiting.
BIGGLES
(keys mike)
Negative. Nothing yet.
BANQUET HALL
CHRIS and COMPANY push through the doorway the Butcher
passed through, but it's not an exit. It is--
KITCHEN
An IRAQI MAN is hung up by a chain, the majority of his
skin carved off, still alive. A walk-in freezer ahead.
CHRIS
(to "D")
Help him--
MARC LEE (OC)
Down here.
Stairs lead down into darkness. Chris follows him into--
AN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL
A naked bulb illuminates a tunnel stretching to darkness.
CHRIS
(realizes; keys mike)
They're coming back up! Watch your six--
THE TUNNEL DETONATES. Dirt and debris explode at them.
BACK ALLEY
BIGGLES and TONY are posted up. The RADIO STATIC--
BIGGLES
--I can't hear you. Say again.
BEHIND THEM
TEN INSURGENTS pour out of another building, circling
back toward Biggles and Tony.
(03.18.14) 73.
KITCHEN
CHRIS and MARC LEE bowl in, panicked, covered in dirt.
CHRIS KYLE
Move.
"D" turns from a WALK-IN FREEZER full of bloody parts.
"D"
Big freezers.
(sickened, following)
Fuck--
SNIPER NEST
DAUBER SEES INSURGENTS approaching Biggles--
DAUBER
Biggles! Watch your six. Roadies on you--
He starts downing them but more seep out downrange.
BACK ALLEY
BIGGLES and TONY are banging away but outgunned when
CHRIS, MARC LEE and "D" steps out, laying down fire.
CHRIS
Pull back! Loading--
BIGGLES
Got you.
Biggles is slaying combatants. Precise and deadly.
BIGGLES
RPG!
AN RPG burns down the alley, screaming between them and
EXPLODES INTO SNIPER NEST. As dust clouds the night--
THE BUTCHER
Slips through smoke, shooting his way to a getaway truck.
CHRIS
Contact. Eyes on The Butcher. 12 o'clock.
MORE INSURGENTS, push up the alley, covering him.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
Dauber? You got visual? Confirm.
(03.18.14) 74.
SNIPER NEST
Dauber struggles from under debris.
DAUBER
Negative. No shot--
CHRIS
Advancing along the wall. The Butcher jumps into a truck.
CHRIS
He's on the move. Crossing!
Biggles side-steps into the street, attracting fire,
downing MULTIPLE INSURGENTS as--
BIGGLES
Got you. Got you. Go, go, go--
Chris dodges behind him, running into the next street
(parallel with truck) hoping for a shot--
NEXT INTERSECTION
As Chris arrives, the GETAWAY TRUCK roars past a block to
the north. He continues at a dead-sprint but--
At next intersection, he's lost more ground. He halts,
sucking wind, GALLIC CROSS TATTOO visible on his forearm.
ABOVE (LOOKING OUT)
A YOUNG SHADOW stands in the window, watching the soldier
below. She picks up an old Nokia Cellular, dialing--
95 INT. MUSTAFA'S ROOM, UNKNOWN BUILDING 95
Incense wafts over oiled components of a DRAGUNOV SNIPER
RIFLE laid out on a prayer rug. A CELL BUZZES and is
answered. A few words and-- HANDS ENTER FRAME, assembling
the rifle. The metallic snap-and-slide escalating as we--
PAN TO the wall, the GALLIC CROSS depicted beside a
sniper rifle on a faded CHRIS KYLE BOUNTY POSTER there.
BACK TO:
TIRE FIRES spit tendrils of black smoke. We are--
(03.18.14) 75.
96 EXT. FAHIM HALAL - NIGHT 96
A four way intersection, neighbors pouring into streets.
An angry crowd hoists the FATHER'S BODY in the air as a
MESSIANIC TRIBAL LEADER riles them with chants. THE SON
stands up-front, small hands fisted, glaring at CHRIS.
CHRIS
(can't take eyes off son)
I offered his father detention. I gave
him a choice--
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
He picked the wrong fucking side. That's
all there is to it. Fog of war.
THE CROWD growing in tension and number.
PFC ALVAREZ
Sir, we have armed insurgents moving this
way. We need to make tracks.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
(hops in Bradley)
Helluva an effort here, Chief. You keep
after this bastard. We'll get him.
As they roar off, Chris pulls Terp over to the TRIBAL
LEADER whose SHOCKING GREEN EYES reflect firelight.
CHRIS KYLE
Tell him this boy's father was fighting
for the people that butchered the clerics
we found in the freezer in there.
DISTANT ALLEY
A flutter of robes. A rusty gate pushed open by an OLD
MAN. Mustafa slips past, brushing the man's shoulder in
thanks. Breath in cadence with step, his head turns up--
Smoke plumes into night, their signal leading him ahead.
CHRIS/TRIBAL LEADER
Terp translates, Tribal Leader responds violently--
TERP
- This is our territory. If you want to
come here, you ask me. If you want to
find someone, I find them-
(03.18.14) 76.
BIGGLES (OC)
(atop Humvee, on the .60)
Fuck `em. Let's go. Shit's getting hairy.
CHRIS KYLE
(to Tribal Leader)
If I ask for your help you're the one
they carve up next. I've seen it happen.
A crowd of 300 chanting, as Terp translates.
ALLEY
TWO MEN stand by a 12 foot wall. A dark shape sprints
toward them. One man kneels, the other braces him. The
reflective swoosh catches light as--
Mustafa runs up the man's back, leaping onto the wall.
CHRIS/TRIBAL LEADER
Tribal Leader rages, crowd at his back, eyes on fire--
TERP
-I am the seventh son of Isaac of
Abraham. This is the land of my father,
and I am not afraid.- He says your evil
is greater than those you fight. He calls
you white satan, devil of Ramadi.
Venom peels across Chris' face and makes it appear true.
A Nike swoosh reflects from a near rooftop.
NEARBY ROOFTOP
Nikes cross gravel. Mustafa kneels. Unfolds his bi-pod.
CHRIS/TRIBAL LEADER
CHRIS KYLE
You tell him to deliver The Butcher to
us, or the devil comes back.
MUSTAFA SCOPE POV
CROSS-HAIRS TRACK past smoke blown sideways, trash
gusting-- FIND CHRIS as he turns for the Humvee. Cross-
hairs leading him, compensating for windage.
As he pauses his exhale-- THE FATHER'S BODY is hoisted in
the air. Mustafa tries to adjust as his SHOT RINGS OUT--
(03.18.14) 77.
97 EXT. HUMVEE (PULLING AWAY) 97
THE ROUND HITS the shield. BIGGLES fires at the rooftop.
Bullets strafing night as the Humvee door closes and they
roar off. A PUNISHER SKULL drawn in grease on his shield,
gleams in the moonlight. Mustafa's shot struck the
Punisher in the eye. PUSH ON the teeth of the logo and--
DISSOLVE TO:
CHRIS' LONG FINGERS pressed to the glass. SFX: his breath
rattles quietly over following scenes. We are--
98 EXT. MATERNITY WARD, SAN DIEGO 98
CHRIS stares into the nursery window where his NEWBORN
DAUGHTER CRIES. The air thick and dreamlike around him.
TAYA (VO)
The news is saying the war is over.
CHRIS (VO)
It's not over.
TAYA (VO)
But are we winning?
CHRIS (VO)
I don't know...
TWO NURSES walk past his daughter. Chris bangs on the
glass, trying to get their attention.
CHRIS
Hey, some help here-- She's crying--
He pounds the glass. The nurses don't hear him. SFX: THE
MECHANISTIC BUZZ of power-tools overwhelms the scene--
TRANSITION TO:
99 INT. JIFFY LUBE - DAY 99
PAN ACROSS GUMBALL MACHINES and TOY DISPENSERS on the
wall. The POWER TOOLS whining as COLTON(3) holds a toy,
pissed it's not the one he wanted.
COLTON
But I want that one--
(03.18.14) 78.
CHRIS
(the air still thick, his
words spoken from afar)
You don't get to choose, bubba.
COLTON
But I don't like it! I want that one--
THE DRILL BUZZES in the garage. Chris' nerves fraying.
CHRIS
You get what it gives you. That's how
this thing works.
Colton melts to the floor crying. CUSTOMERS looking now.
CHRIS
Don't do this. Get up. Come on--
THROUGH VIEWING WINDOW-- THE MAN with the drill is
visible. Dark hair like The Butcher, turning toward us--
RECEPTIONIST (OC)
Chris Kyle, your truck is ready.
CHRIS
(snaps-to; to Colton)
Get off the floor. Right now--
MAN'S VOICE (OC)
Excuse me, sir.
A YOUNG MAN steps too close. Chris rears up, defensive.
YOUNG MAN
Are you... "Chief" Chris Kyle?
CHRIS
That's me.
YOUNG MAN
Sorry to intrude, sir, but we met in
Fallujah. You saved my life.
CHRIS
Did I--?
YOUNG MAN/VETERAN
Yes, sir. My name is Mads. We were
trapped in a house when you showed up
with 1st Marines. You carried me out.
(03.18.14) 79.
CHRIS
(lifetimes ago, but)
Yeah. Right. Well, you Marines saved our
ass plenty out there. How you holding up?
MADS/YOUNG VETERAN
Great, sir. I'm grateful to be alive. It
hasn't been easy but--
He lifts his pant-leg and shows an ARTIFICIAL LEG.
MADS
It cost lots of guys more than a leg.
CHRIS
Did you lose some friends?
MADS
That too, but I'm talking about guys that
lived. They made it back but they're just
not back. They can't seem to get right.
DRILL STARTS UP again. Chris glances that direction.
CHRIS
Yeah, I-- I'm sorry to hear that.
MADS
You should come down to the VA sometime.
The guys would love it. They all know who
The Legend is.
Chris nods like he never will. Mads kneels to Colton.
MADS
I bet you missed your daddy when he was
gone. But can I tell you something? Your
dad is a hero. He saved my life--
(eyes well up)
He helped me get home to my little girl.
Colton looks up at his dad who swells with emotion. OTHER
CUSTOMERS watching now, captivated.
MADS
So thank you for loaning him to us, li'l
man. I wouldn't be here without him.
Mads stands and comes to attention, saluting Chris.
MADS
My family thanks you for your service.
Chris bites back emotion, nods, and walks out.
(03.18.14) 80.
100 INT. NURSERY 100
A pink cocoon of a room. Taya sits in a rocker, breast-
feeding their daughter, MCKENNA. She's gentle, imploring--
TAYA
I'm making memories by myself. I have no
one to share them with.
CHRIS
We have the rest of our lives for that.
TAYA
When does that start? Even when you're
here you're not here.
Taya pulls McKenna off her breast. Chris scoops her up.
TAYA
I hate the teams for it. I do. You're my
husband and the father of my children--
but they're the ones that pull you back.
CHRIS
(doesn't look up from his
daughter)
We can wait. They can't.
A long pause...
TAYA (OC)
If you think this war isn't changing you
you're wrong.
He looks up and POV CHRIS-- Taya sits in her rocker on
the side of a ROAD IN RAMADI, destruction all around her.
TAYA
You can only circle the flame so long.
SCORE BUILDS, a steely guitar over tribal drums.
"THIRD TOUR"
A TRUCK speeds past a burnt rocker in the street. We are--
101 INT. TRUCK, RAMADI - DAY 101
PUNISHER SKULL stenciled on flack jacket, CHRIS mans a
suspended MK48 swinging where a passenger seat should be.
A skull bandanna and sunglasses cover his grizzled face.
The Punishers--
(03.18.14) 81.
BIGGLES
(keys mike)
--we are tailing the Butcher's courier,
turning onto Maryland Street. Over.
BIGGLES DRIVES, trailing a BROWN VAN. The city goes from
light to shadow as they enter a built-up section called--
THE CHINESE APARTMENTS
BIGGLES
I bought the ring.
CHRIS
Here?
BIGGLES
They're cheaper here.
CHRIS
You want some savage's ring? What if it's
a blood diamond?
BIGGLES
What the fuck do you care? You spilled
more blood than anyone!
CHRIS
Not for a rock.
BIGGLES
Whatever, man.
CHRIS
Ease off, don't get too close.
(the van turns ahead)
You gonna tell her where it came from?
BIGGLES
Hell no! I'll tell her I got from Zales.
They're laughing, off the leash, cocky and invincible.
A BLOCK BACK - HUMVEE FOLLOWS
MARC LEE drives. "D" rides shotgun. DAUBER in back.
Uniforms bastardized; metal blasting in broad daylight.
BIGGLES (OS)
(over radio)
Still with us cookie?
(03.18.14) 82.
"D"
(keys mike, checking GPS)
Half a block back and we are wet and
ready, Big Giggles.
MARC LEE
20 years from now, we'll have a reunion
and you'll be married to a dude.
"D"
As long as you cook and clean.
DAUBER sits in back, shaking his head.
UNDERCOVER TRUCK
STREET SPOTTERS reach for their cell phones. Chris glares
at them, ominous in skull mask, flipping the bird.
CHRIS
The Butcher has his peepers out.
BIGGLES
This motherfucker is Keyser Söze. Next
time you got a shot try not to miss.
CHRIS
I coulda taken him in that alley if I
didn't have to save your ass--
BIGGLES
(accelerates)
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
ON A ROOFTOP
A BAREFOOT TEENAGER races across gravel, aims a RIFLE
down at the taxi with The Punisher symbol--
UNDERCOVER TRUCK
BIGGLES
You gonna be my best man?
CHRIS
(still masked)
Is it just me? Or other guys too?
BIGGLES
You fucking egomaniac--
A ROUND pierces the roof and goes through the floorboard--
(03.18.14) 83.
BIGGLES
Rooftop, twelve-o'clock--
SIX INSURGENTS pop up on a rooftop, firing. Chris leans
into the .60 spitting lead in pneumatic bursts.
102 INT. MUSTAFA'S APARTMENT - SAME 102
A dry hand spins a SNIPER ROUND on a tabletop. It wobbles
to a stop facing the man who set it in motion-- MUSTAFA,
head-on. A messy beard and thousand-yard stare. Haunted
but unrelenting, he spins the round again.
An IRAQI WOMAN appears, shushing an infant. She says
something to Mustafa but he doesn't respond. A phone
vibrates. He grabs a duffel and steps out. By the door, A
PHOTO OF MUSTAFA on a medal stand at the Olympic Games.
103 INT. UNDERCOVER TRUCK 103
Biggles speeds after the van, taking fire from above.
CHRIS
Get me a shot, grandma.
Biggles stomps the accelerator, whips around a corner--
A SHORT STRAIGHTAWAY
CHRIS BLASTS 200 ROUNDS (MK48) into the van; pulverizes
the thing and watches it hiss to a stop.
BIGGLES
That should do it.
COURIER bounds out of the van, diving into a building.
CHRIS
What the fuck!? How'd he survive--
BIGGLES
Rubber junk-man's got your horseshoe.
They roll out in pursuit. The Humvee pulls up. Inside--
"D"
(into mike)
--need a two block perimeter around the
area. No one gets in or out.
(03.18.14) 84.
104 EXT. DISTANT ROOFTOPS 104
MUSTAFA crosses rooftop-to-rooftop with fluency.
105 INT. HALLWAY, APARTMENT COMPLEX 105
BLOOD DROPLETS lead to a door. Biggles kicks-in.
106 INT. APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS 106
Biggles and Chris dance around each other like smoke.
BIGGLES
Clear.
An open window. Stairs climb the wall outside.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
We're headed to the roof. Secure the van.
THE VAN
DAUBER and TONY cover MARC LEE and "D" as they open the
back of the van. Inside, flats of RED CLAY TILES.
"D"
The Butcher is building a 7-11?
Marc rips off the top layer, finds: 200,000 ROUNDS AMMO.
MARC LEE
No ammo, no jihad.
ROOFTOP
Drying sheets billow on crisscrossing wires. Chris tracks
blood-drops to the ledge. The next roof 15 feet off.
BIGGLES
How the hell'd he make that?
CHRIS
He didn't--
Two stories below, COURIER lays face down in his mess.
BIGGLES
So much for leading us to the Butcher.
CHRIS
So much for him having my horseshoe.
(03.18.14) 85.
Chris pulls his mask down. He has a beard and the sturm
und drang of war are writ loud on his face.
DISTANT BALUSTRADE
MUSTAFA lays prone, mumbles a prayer and takes two deep
breaths before putting his eye to the scope.
MUSTAFA SCOPE POV
CROSS-HAIRS TACK to fluttering sheets, the wind revealed
in their billow. TWO FIGURES are cloaked there,
indistinguishable heads peaking over laundry lines.
He aims left-and-above the head closest to him.
ON THE ROOF
Chris and Biggles stand among the billowing sheets.
CHRIS
She'll take it to Zales and try to find
out how much your spent.
BIGGLES
She's not like that.
CHRIS
They're all like that.
BIGGLES
It's giant, bro. Four karats. It had to
belong to one of Saddam's bitches--
Chris is laughing when he sees a FLASH OF GLASS in the
distance. Before he can utter a warning--
A GUNSHOT SOUNDS
The bullet flays the muzzle of Biggles M4. Shrapnel
enters his face. Biggles goes down in a red mist--
CHRIS
No!--
The right side of his face is a pulpy cavity. His eye
socket obliterated. He appears mortally wounded.
CHRIS
(dives on him, keys mike)
Biggles is down. Man down.
(pulls Biggles close,
chiseled with grief)
No, buddy. No! Stay with me--
(03.18.14) 86.
He drags him one way, then another. He can't see past the
blood-spackled sheets. A SHOT pocks the roof at his feet.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
Cover! I need cover. He's picking us off.
ANOTHER SHOT inches from his head. They are being hunted.
BIGGLES
(gargled)
I'm got it. I got it-- I can walk--
Biggles pulls himself up, tilting his head forward to not
choke on his own blood. With heroic effort, he stumbles
to the stairs. Chris, stunned he's alive, ducks an arm--
107 EXT. STREET 107
TWO MARINE UNITS provide cover as the Humvee speeds off.
108 INT. HUMMER 108
MARC LEE drives. DAUBER applies gauze to hold Biggles
face on. CHRIS kneels there, holding his hand.
BIGGLES
(gargling blood)
--I'm sorry--
CHRIS
You got nothing to be sorry for. I
shouldn't have had us up there--
BIGGLES
Am I gonna die?
Chris looks to Dauber--
DAUBER
We'll rub a little dirt in it, get you a
sip of water, you'll be fine.
Dauber shakes his head, he's not going to make it.
BIGGLES
--it was always gonna be me--
CHRIS
Coulda been any of us. Just hang on--
(03.18.14) 87.
BIGGLES
Not you. Not the Legend. You lucky fuck--
His body goes into shock. Chris comes unwound.
CHRIS
Don't die, Ryan. You hold on--
109 INT. MEDICAL TENT 109
LOW ANGLE- plywood floor littered with needles, blood and
latex gloves. A cart is rushed past. MEDICAL PERSONNEL
shouting, "we're losing him." The picture pulses, blurs--
110 EXT. MEDICAL TENT 110
THE PUNISHERS stand around the Humvee, still as a photo.
"D"
Did you see where it came from?
CHRIS
He was 1000 meters out. Only one enemy
sniper makes that shot.
A jeep pulls up. COLONEL JONES and MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
step out.
COL. JONES
Will he make it?
Chris turns away, choked up.
DAUBER
Doesn't look good, Master Chief.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
That's the first SEAL hit, sir.
"D"
Fuck!
The sun high.
COL. JONES
A Shi'a cab driver we source is saying
there's a stronghold seven doors down.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
Marine units that covered your exfil are
still engaged there.
(03.18.14) 88.
COL. JONES
I can understand if you want to stand-
down and regroup. It's up to you.
The wind blows.
MARC LEE
Lex talionis...
(looks up)
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
They all agree.
CHRIS
We're going back.
111 EXT. STREET, RAMADI 111
METALLICA, "Master of Puppets" blasts as an M1A2 ABRAMS
TANK speeds 45 mph down a street, bad as fuck. TWO
BRADLEY TRANSPORT vehicles follow.
A CAR pulls into the road ahead. INSURGENT PASSENGER
leans out, FIRING AN RPG. It explodes across the tank but
does no damage. Tank still coming, Insurgents pull away--
But the tank catches them. Treads climbing the back of
the car, overtaking it. INSURGENTS are trying to get out,
screaming, as steel folds around them and flattens them.
And the ABRAMS vaults off the other side--
112 INT. BRADLEY TRANSPORT VEHICLE 112
THE PUNISHERS. Ears pinned back. Metal blasting. Amp'd to
kill. FIND CHRIS consumed by rage; he pulls the BIBLE and
AMERICAN FLAG out and sets them aside. This is personal.
MARC LEE
Two clicks out. Lock and load.
He glances at Chris, feeding off him. They all are.
CHRIS
For Biggles.
IN THE STREET
The tank skids to a stop. The turret spins to a castle-
like structure and BA-BOOM!
(03.18.14) 89.
THE PUNISHERS pour out of their Bradleys, rolling in both
directions, arcing toward the point of entry--
THE COURTYARD
Punishers pour in. FOUR INSURGENTS lay dead, dispatched
by the tank. Zero resistance.
MARC LEE
Courtyard is clear. Moving.
CHRIS
Some stronghold. Move.
DAUBER and TONY follow them up a crumbled staircase--
LONG HALLWAY
Ominously still. Sunlight spills through grated windows
facing the street. Chris and Marc move to the first door--
FIRST ROOM
A sleeping mat. A TV plays an Al Jazeeri game show. Marc
pushes toward the bathroom, coming around the corner---
BATHROOM
The faucet runs on a straight-razor.
MARC LEE
Clear.
FIRST ROOM
MARC steps back in, golden dust motes float around him.
MARC LEE
Somebody left in a hurry.
CHRIS
(keys mike)
You sure we got the right address--
CANON-FIRE HITS the outer-hallway from across the street.
Brrrrrb-Brrrrb!! Rounds banging with seismic force.
DAUBER (OS)
(from hallway)
Fuck--
TIME SLOWS as Chris bounds toward the door. Marc Lee gets
there first, steps through it, into--
(03.18.14) 90.
LONG HALLWAY
GUNFIRE RAINS through grated windows. The hall is coming
apart in dusty chunks of plaster.
DAUBER and TONY are pinned between windows. MARC LEE
steps to the nearest window to lay suppressive fire.
MARC LEE
Contact--
GUNFIRE STRAFES IN AT AN ANGLE, HITTING MARC LEE IN HIS
OPEN MOUTH. HE'S BLOWN BACKWARDS, HITTING THE WALL AND--
MARC LEE is down. Blood pooling. A forever stare.
CHRIS
Marc--
CHRIS is staggered but his training takes over and he
steps into the same window, BLASTING FIRE.
DAUBER is trying to intubate Marc but the back of his
head is gone. He was dead before he hit the wall.
THE ABRAMS TURRET SPINS. THE CANON BOOMS. THE EARTH
TREMBLES AS THE BUILDING ACROSS THE STREET IS FLATTENED--
TRANSITION TO:
The trembling is the turbulence. We are--
113 INT. C-17 GLOBEMASTER (IN FLIGHT) - NIGHT 113
In dim red-glow, FIND BIGGLES in a tented gurney, stable
but critical; his head caved in. CHRIS stares ahead--
MARC LEE'S MOM (VO)
"Glory is something some men chase and
others find themselves stumbling upon."
REVERSE TO MARC LEE'S CASKET draped in stars and stripes.
114 EXT. FORT ROSECRANS NATIONAL CEMETERY - DAY 114
A pasture of tombstones overlook the Pacific. CHRIS, with
a chest-full of medals, stands with TAYA, COLTON(4) and
MCKENNA(2). TAYA watches MARC'S WIFE weep as--
MARC LEE'S MOM reads his LAST LETTER HOME:
(03.18.14) 91.
MARC'S LEE MOM
"My question is when does glory fade away
and become a wrongful crusade?"
CHRIS HEARS MARC'S VOICE:
MARC LEE (VO)
"When does it become an unjustified means
by which one is completely consumed."
COLTON reaches for his father's hand. Chris jumps,
startled. He looks at Colton, then Taya. He's caught with
his guard down and it appears he may let them in...
But he quickly returns his gaze to the flagged casket.
CLOSE ON CASKET
NAVY SEALS bang their Tridents into the coffin. A hollow
thump, like fists trying to revive a heart.
115 INT. TAYA'S CAR (MOVING) - LATER 115
San Diego traffic. THE KIDS chatter in back. CHRIS
drives, in a fugue-state when he spots--
A BROWN VAN, four cars back, same as the one in Ramadi.
TAYA
Marc wrote that letter two weeks ago. Did
he say any of that to you?
VAN ROARS up the turning lane. It's pulling alongside
them. Chris grips the wheel, ready-- the van roars past
TAYA
Chris? I want to know what you thought of
his letter...
CHRIS
(slow, absent)
An AQI informant called in a tip. Biggles
had just been shot. We were operating off
emotion and-- we walked into an ambush.
The kids grow quiet. The air sucked from the car.
CHRIS
But that's not what killed him. That
letter did. That letter killed Marc.
(looks to her)
He let go and he paid the price for it.
(03.18.14) 92.
Taya turns away, wrecked. They drive in silence.
116 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 116
TV lights the dark room. NEWS GRAPHIC: "Americans killed
in Iraq: 3932". CHRIS and TAYA talk to the ceiling.
CHRIS
If something ever happened to me-- you'd
meet someone else. You'd be alright.
His detachment is unearthly.
TAYA
Do you want to die? Is that what it is?
CHRIS
No.
TAYA
(cheeks shine with tears)
Then tell me why do you do it. I want to
understand.
CHRIS
I do it for you. To protect you.
TAYA
No you don't. I'm here. Your family is
here. Your children have no father--
CHRIS
Without this, there's nothing.
TAYA
Bullshit. It's not about us anymore. You
don't know when to quit. It's over-
(violent)
You did your part! We sacrificed enough.
Let somebody else go--
CHRIS
I could never live with myself.
TAYA
You find a way! You have to. I need you
to be human again. I need you here.
(no response, she calms)
If you leave again, we might not be here
when you get back.
It startles him and he seems suddenly alert to her
suffering. He reaches for her, holding her to his chest.
(03.18.14) 93.
CHRIS
I know.
Her eyes sink into a well of ruin.
116A OMITTED 116A
117 INT. NAVY HOSPITAL, SAN DIEGO - DAY 117
A DUST MOTH flutters around the wall sconce. Wilted
flowers and "get-well" cards cover the windowsill.
CHRIS
(enters)
Hey, buddy--
BIGGLES lays in bed. Part of his head caved-in and badly
marred, one eyelid open on a milky-white eyeball.
BIGGLES
Chris? Where are you?
CHRIS
I'm right here just give me a minute--
(hobbles around the bed)
Just blind as a bat, huh?
BIGGLES
Yeah... It fucking blows. They're gonna
fix my face though.
CHRIS
That's good. Your face always needed a
little fixing.
Chris sounds upbeat but his eyes betray him.
CHRIS
I heard you proposed? Did you tell Kelly
the diamond was from Zales?
BIGGLES
Naw, I bought a new one. A small one. Her
dad helped me out.
CHRIS
Nice.
BIGGLES
She wouldn't leave me, bro. I told her to
go-- but she wouldn't leave.
(MORE)
(03.18.14) 94.
BIGGLES (CONT'D)
(voice cracking)
She's getting a raw fucking deal.
CHRIS
No she's not. How can you say that? She's
getting you.
(eyes welling up)
All four inches.
Biggles laughs and tears roll from his vacant eye.
BIGGLES
I'm glad this happened to me and not you.
No way you could've handled it.
CHRIS
You're probably right.
There is a pause.
BIGGLES
They say you're the deadliest sniper in
U.S. Military history.
CHRIS
Is that what they say?
Biggles grows quiet.
CHRIS
The bad guys fled up into to Sadr City.
BIGGLES
You're not going back?
CHRIS
We're gonna wall `em in and hunt `em
down.
BIGGLES
You don't have to do this.
CHRIS
Yes I do. You're my brother and they're
going to pay for what they did to you.
His mind made up. Biggles moved by it.
BIGGLES
Hooyah, Legend. Hooyah--
118 OMITTED 118
(03.18.14) 95.
119 OMITTED 119
120 OMITTED 120
121 OMITTED 121
122 OMITTED 122
123 OMITTED 123
124 INT. C-17 GLOBEMASTER - DAY 124
75 Marines packed in. CHRIS hobbles up the isle like
Achilles. His import draws the attention of soldiers he
passes. He settles into a seat. Across from him--
MARINE LT.
The Legend, right? I heard you killed 101
men your last tour. The hajis call you
The Devil of Ramadi.
Chris removes his wedding band, hangs it from his
necklace.
MARINE LT.
So how many kills you got now?
CHRIS KYLE
You have to ask the Navy. I lost count.
His reserve silences the Lieutenant. ENGINES ROAR as--
"FOURTH TOUR"
125 OMITTED 125
126 OMITTED 126
127 EXT. FOB COWBOY - DAY 127
This base feels like a remote outpost. CHRIS and "D" walk
past a boneyard of charred vehicles.
(03.18.14) 96.
"D"
We been shot off position three nights in
a row. Fallujah was bad, Ramadi was worse
but this shit is fuckin biblical.
CHRIS
Any other Punishers here?
"D"
Squirrel cycled out. Dauber was coming
back but his wife knocked him up. And if
I bring home another rug my old lady'll
murder my ass. Teams and shit.
CHRIS
(nostalgic)
Teams and shit.
"D"
(a beat)
That Biggles news hit hard.
CHRIS
I know. I visited him before I left. That
fucker can't see shit.
"D"
(stops walking)
Bro... Biggles is gone. He was in surgery
yesterday and he died on the table.
Chris stares at him, ruined, waiting for him to take it
back. SFX: A PHONE RINGS thousands of miles away as--
CHRIS SCOPE POV
CROSS-HAIRS track along Jamila street, past cranes
assembling the T-wall that will stretch across the city.
The phone stops ringing, VOICEMAIL picks up.
TAYA VOICEMAIL (VO)
-This is Taya, I can't get to the phone
so please leave a message.
A car pulls into an intersection, ominous in inactivity.
Dust blows sideways off its halted tires.
CHRIS MESSAGE (VO)
It's me. I'm just calling to hear your
voice. I'm missing you guys. I been
thinking about some things you said.
(03.18.14) 97.
The car disappears down a side-street. CROSS-HAIRS linger
at that spot, knowing the routine.
CHRIS MESSAGE (VO
Tell the kids I love them.
AN INSURGENT darts out, flips the sight-finder on an RPG.
Mirage boils off the street, same as dust, 45 degrees.
CHRIS MESSAGE
I love you too.
CROSS-HAIRS compensate left for windage. A SHOT RINGS
OUT. Red mist. CROSS-HAIRS scan the sector, they won't
leave an RPG. Finally, ANOTHER FIGURE runs out--
A YOUNG KID
No older than Colton. He grabs the RPG, shoulders it.
CROSS-HAIRS zero on him, center-mass. SFX: Chris'
heartbeat bangs like a 800lb hammer. Not again.
CHRIS (OC)
Don't do it--
CROSS-HAIRS tremor as Chris' hands start to shake.
CHRIS (OC)
--please God--
Young Kid takes aims and-- suddenly discards the RPG in
the street and runs off.
CHRIS
He rolls off the gun, gasping for air, biting back tears.
After nearly a decade of war he's finally breaking down.
128 INT. OP TENT - DAY 128
Wind batters the tent. A squad of 16 SPEC OPS GUYS from
different branches study a map with--
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
Brass believe this T-wall will end the
war by trapping remaining AQI inside. But
we got a sniper picking off contractors
from deep behind the wall.
CHRIS (OC)
How deep?
Every man looks to the back wall where Chris stands.
(03.18.14) 98.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
Roughly 1000 meters.
CHRIS
Is it Mustafa?
RANGER ONE
Moo-who?
"D"
The sniper who shot our boy Biggles.
That's a warning. Ranger One backs off.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
He can be whoever you need him to be, we
just need him dead.
Chris nods, eyes ablaze. Martin points to a map, south of
the wall is green, north of wall is red.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
(points to red-zone)
We'll shuttle you six blocks north into
enemy territory which will put you right
up under his nose when he takes his shot.
Storm winds blast the tent flap open--
DELTA SNIPER
In the middle of a fucking sandstorm?
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
Bring your goggles, Bambi. We need to
shut this shooter down.
129 EXT. FORWARD OPERATING BASE 129
A Stryker rumbles out, headed across the desert floor.
130 INT. STRYKER 130
CHRIS sits up front, eyes drawn to an OLD MERCEDES
speeding across the desert toward them. A train of dust
plumes behind it. As the vehicles pass-- (ECU) TWO IRAQI
MEN in the Mercedes hide their faces behind keffiyehs.
CHRIS
What was that--
Chris whips around in his seat but can't look back.
(03.18.14) 99.
131 EXT. GUARD POST - CONTINUOUS 131
MARINE GATE-GUARD studies the approaching OLD MERCEDES.
MARINE GATE GUARD
(keys mike)
This is east gate. We've got an unknown
vehicle coming up fast.
Guards roll out, guns up. Mercedes skids to a stop
outside the serpentine barriers. Dust blooms from it.
MARINE GATE GUARD
Get out of the car! Now--
INSIDE MERCEDES
TWO IRAQI MEN eye the guards. THE DRIVER mutters
something to the passenger and pops the trunk--
GUARD POST
GUARDS, lit with urgency, react as-- BOTH MEN STEP OUT of
the Mercedes, hands in air, circling toward the trunk.
GATE GUARD
Step away from the car!
GATE GUARD #2
(FIRES WARNING SHOT)
--move for the trunk you will be shot.
GUARDS POV
THE TWO IRAQI MEN duck behind the trunk. After a
painfully long moment, they reemerge with--
GATE GUARD (OC)
Drop it! Right there! Drop him now--
They drop A MAN BOUND in blood-smeared plastic. GUARDS
BARKING orders. THE DRIVER unwinds his scarf to reveal--
MESSIANIC TRIBAL LEADER (shock green eyes) who confronted
Chris in Ramadi; the one tasked with finding The Butcher.
TRIBAL LEADER
(in Arabic)
Tell the devil we found his Butcher. We
will protect ourselves now.
He waits for response. Guns stay on him. The wind howls.
CLOSE ON BUTCHER
(03.18.14) 100.
Beaten to within an inch of his life. Bloody plastic
suffocates his mouth as he tries to inhale.
132 EXT. SADR CITY - AERIAL SHOT - MOMENTS LATER 132
The Stryker speeds up a side-street into insurgent
territory (north of wall). Next street over, PACKS OF
INSURGENTS push south, toward the construction site.
133 EXT. STREET, SIX BLOCKS NORTH OF T-WALL - DAY 133
Stryker slows. Boots hit dirt, silently slipping into--
134 EXT. BANANA FACTORY, SIX BLOCKS NORTH OF T-WALL - DAY 134
PUSH UPSIDE a five story building. Bombed-out walls
reveal conveyors and fruit lockers inside.
ROOFTOP
An open rooftop, RANGER ONE is concealed under a vent as
INSURGENTS pass in droves in the street below.
RANGER ONE (OS)
The streets are crawling. Hold your fire.
Across the roof, "D" on a .50 BMG looking at the MILE-
WIDE SANDSTORM pushing toward Baghdad.
"D"
Enter the fuckin sandman.
CHRIS
3rd floor. In a fruit locker. Breath racing. Hands
tremoring. Electricity coursing through him.
Gun pointed north, Chris searches nearby buildings for
the sniper. PUSH BEHIND HIM, SIX-BLOCKS SOUTH to--
T-WALL
A CRANE lowers a T-block. ARMY ENGINEERS guide it in.
ENEMY CROSS-HAIRS ENTER FRAME (REVERSE ANGLE)
ARMY ENGINEERS in the street signal success and ANOTHER
ENGINEER scurries up the neck of the crane to release the
chain. The cross-hairs track the MOVING ENGINEER and--
(03.18.14) 101.
BOOM! A shot echoes across the landscape and TOPPLES THE
ENGINEER from the crane. He lands dead in the street.
CHRIS
Hears it, pulls off the gun, looking behind him.
CHRIS
No--
(keys mike)
It came from behind us. We went the wrong
way. He's south of the wall.
RANGER ONE (OS)
(over mike)
Doesn't matter. Hold your fire. We got
uglies right below us--
Chris repositions himself, FACING SOUTH-- he lowers his
eye to glass, bleeding sweat, aiming toward Baghdad.
CHRIS SCOPE POV (BOTH EYES VIEW)
CROSS-HAIRS track to distant rooftops. Everything wobbles
and fumes. Trash blows, fronds sway, curtains flap,
mirage boils-- all gusting different directions.
Almost by accident, he lands on an IMPOSSIBLY SMALL
SHAPE. Person? A bag of trash? Or nothing at all. As
small as a pepper-flake inside the radius of his scope.
CHRIS (OC)
(into mike)
I got something. 1900 yards out.
RANGER ONE (OS)
You can't even see that far out. Hold
your fire. You'll expose us all.
He twitches and wobbles off-target by a city block.
"D" (OS)
He's right, Legend. No bueno.
CROSS-HAIRS tracking back, measuring between mil-
reticals, calculating for distance. Back on target:
CHRIS (OC)
Correction. 2100 yards out.
"D"
That's a mile. Impossible shot.
(03.18.14) 102.
CHRIS (OC)
(beat)
It's him.
ENEMY SNIPER HIDE
THE SNIPER is covered in a black Hefty bag disguising his
presentation, and identity. Ready to kill again.
CHRIS (OS)
(over radio)
This is Charlie 7 Bravo. We have eyes on
the target. Initiate QRF. Over.
"D" (OS)
Can you confirm it's him.
ON CHRIS
Trying to breathe it down, please god, breathe it down--
CHRIS (OS)
He has eyes on our guys.
RANGER ONE (OS)
Quick Reaction Force is 20 minutes out.
You will stand the fuck down--
Chris scoops dust off the floor and watches with his off-
eye, as it blows off his palm and plumes outward.
"D"
It's your call, Chris.
SNIPER SCOPE POV
CROSS-HAIRS track to the cluster of MARINE ENGINEERS.
CHRIS' SCOPE POV
CROSS-HAIRS wobble on the dark shape a mile away.
"D" (OS)
If you got it, take it.
RANGER ONE (OS)
Negative, negative--
CHRIS (OC)
Aim small. Aim small.
We zero-in on a small fold on that black bag. SFX: A LOW
FREQUENCY BUZZ escalates as concentration deepens.
(03.18.14) 103.
CLOSE ON SNIPER
Face obscured, a PRAYER HISSES from his bearded mouth.
CLOSE ON CHRIS
Both eyes open, a PRAYER WHISPERS across his lips.
CHRIS
For Biggles.
CLOSE ON SNIPER/CLOSE ON CHRIS
SFX: Thump-thump....Thump-BAM!
Chris fires first. The shot echoes across eternity. One,
two, three seconds later. A red-mist paints the wind.
THE SNIPER tumbles off his platform and out of view.
CHRIS KYLE
Tango down.
The world rushing back in, he hears INSURGENTS below.
STREET BELOW FACTORY
INSURGENTS point up at the building, yelling, rushing in--
ROOFTOP
Chris bangs onto the roof, shaken, joining a 6 MAN SQUAD.
RANGER ONE
You just fucked us, Legend--
(screams into mike)
We need Stryker and QRF units, ASAP.
CHRIS KYLE
He was on our boys and I took him out.
RANGER ONE
We are fucked like a football bat.
"D"
Mission accomplished. Biggles be proud.
A look between them, fully aware of what comes next.
SIDE VIEW (FACTORY)
INSURGENTS clear the second floor, bounding toward--
ROOFTOP
(03.18.14) 104.
CHRIS and Squad set-up firing stations.
CHRIS
There are two ways onto the roof. We
cover both stairways and conserve ammo.
Muted nods all around. Footsteps coming. This is it.
"D"
If you FNGs shit your pants, don't stop
shooting. Scoop and shoot. Scoop and--
GUNFIRE POPS behind them. MARINE GUNNER lights it up.
CHRIS
Conserve--
OPPOSITE DOOR bangs open across the roof. Chris hammers
the INSURGENT but he keeps coming, drugged up. TWO MORE
roll out behind him, on the same glue.
This is close-quarter contact, visceral and savage.
IN THE STREET
INSURGENTS enter surrounding buildings in droves.
ROOFTOP
Wind kicking up. Ammo running out. Insurgents keep
coming. Worst environment imaginable.
RANGER ONE
(into mike)
Negative, negative, danger-close, they're
all over us--
"D"
Drop motherfucker! Drop!
CHRIS laces bad guys. Pure brutality. They fall at his
feet. Tracers light from the next roof.
"D"
3 o'clock. Loading. Last mag.
RANGER ONE
(screams)
QRF is stuck three blocks out.
MARINE GUNNER
I'm out of ammo--
(03.18.14) 105.
INSURGENTS use rebar to cross from a nearby rooftop. Two
ways just became three. They're swarming them.
Hand-to-hand chaos. A bad way to die.
RANGER ONE
I don't wanna get dragged in the street--
"D"
Call it in. Light us up.
Chris wields his .45, spackled with blood--
CHRIS
Do it. Call in our coordinates.
RANGER ONE
(keys mike)
This is Rio Two Bravo, requesting
ordinance drop. GRID 04837959.
(gunfire)
I know my fucking position! They're right
on top of us. Drop it!
RADIO GOES STATIC, he nods, it's done.
MARINE SNIPER
White-side!
INSURGENTS crossing the gap. Chris pivots--
TRANSITION TO:
DRONE FOOTAGE of Chris on the roof of the Banana Factory.
Surrounding streets are filled with bad guys. We are--
135 INT. COMM-OP TENT 135
Wind battling tent. MASTER CHIEF MARTIN stands over a
NAVY DISPATCH OPERATOR, staring at the footage.
MASTER CHIEF MARTIN
Tell the pilot to turn it loose.
DISPATCH OPERATOR looks up, realizing what's happening.
136 EXT. F-18 HORNET 136
PILOT looks to his wing as STINGER MISSILES engage.
PILOT
3-4, copy that. 30 seconds out.
(03.18.14) 106.
ON THE ROOFTOP
TWO DOZEN insurgents surround them on the rooftop. CHRIS
waits till a guy gets right up on him and-- BAM!
"D"
You're up--
"D" trades the SATELLITE PHONE for Chris' Springfield.
CHRIS
--you got four rounds.
In their exchange, an unspoken goodbye. Then--
Chris struggles to dial, hands shaking. IT RINGS. He
squints north. RINGS AGAIN. F-18 rocketing toward him--
TAYA (OS)
Hello?
Chris is stunned. She answered. He's speechless.
TAYA
Hello?
CHRIS
(struggles)
Hey baby--
TAYA
Chris-- What's the noise?
Wind howls. F-18 closing.
TAYA
I can't hear you--
CHRIS
I'm ready to come home. I'm ready...
She starts crying. The F-18 almost upon them.
TAYA
What's happening--
CHRIS
--I'm coming home. Can you hear me?
TAYA
Chris--
F-18 seconds out. Chris looks up and sees--
(03.18.14) 107.
THE SANDSTORM
Has shifted. A tsunami of dirt is about to swallow them.
F-18 RAPTOR
THE PILOT flying into the storm. Sensors screaming. He
can't hold his line. 4, 3, 2-- He pulls up early.
ROOFTOP
HELLFIRE MISSILES scream over the Banana factory and
EXPLODE INTO the next building. Fire and dirt engulf
them. The blast recedes but the sand-storm escalates.
CHRIS
Go, go, let's move--
He leads "D", RANGER ONE and FOUR OTHERS across the roof.
They stumble past INSURGENTS, blinded by sand.
STREET BELOW
CHRIS and SQUAD stagger into HOWLING CHAOS, clinging to
each other, trailing Chris as GUNFIRE POPS behind them.
CHRIS
(choking, into mike)
Stryker-3, what's your location--
AN INSURGENT is blown right into them. "D" wrestles his
gun away and beats him with it.
CHRIS
Hold there! We are 30 seconds out--
(pointing ahead)
Go. Straight ahead. Go--
They run for their lives. Unable to see two feet ahead.
Sand shredding their skin. Chris is struggling--
Squad passing him. Knees failing him. He can't keep up.
INT. STRYKER
THE GUNNER stares at REMOTE WEAPONS SCREEN when SIX
FIGURES EMERGE from the dust. He's about to fire--
GUNNER
BDUs-- That's them! Drop the ramp.
The ramp drops. STORM HOWLING. RANGER-ONE dives in,
MARINES follow, then "D" rolls in. The rig pulls off.
(03.18.14) 108.
"D"
Where's Chris? He was just--
IN THE STREET
Chris falters forward. Insurgents pursuing. The Stryker
just visible ahead-- pulling away.
IN THE STRYKER
M2 GUNNER can't see shit on his monitor.
"D"
--stop the rig, man! Stop--
DRIVER
I don't see him--
IN THE STREET
Chris is ten feet behind the rig, sprinting. Bullets sing
past. He sheds flack-jacket and webbing, Bible and flag.
He drops his gun in the dirt and dives. His hand clutches
the last rung of slat-armor and--
Chris Kyle is dragged off the battlefield.
IN THE STREET
Sand buries the METALLIC TOY SOLDIER that followed him
since childhood. Wind whips pages of the Bible and pulls
at the flag until it flaps unfolded. WE'RE BLOWN AWAY
with it, twisting and clapping into an otherworldy beige.
IN THE STORM
We catch glimpses of the city below: graffiti'd T-walls,
a cracked expanse of desert floor and the lanky body of
an enemy sniper splayed across a rooftop.
Wind rips the Hefty bag away and sand pocks the DEAD FACE
OF MUSTAFA-- before we're swept up into the howling rage.
LONG FADE:
137 OMITTED 137
138 OMITTED 138
139 OMITTED 139
(03.18.14) 109.
140 OMITTED 140
140A INT. AIRPORT BAR - NIGHT 140A
CHRIS sits hunched at the bar, his eyes track patrons and
staff (ECU) their hands, torsos, eyes. HIS PHONE RINGS.
CHRIS
(into phone)
--hello?
TAYA (OS)
Where are you? I got a weird message that
you were on a plane?
He can HEAR THE KIDS in the background.
CHRIS
(into phone)
Yeah, I got out early.
TAYA (OS)
So are you in Germany, or--
CHRIS
I'm here, I'm stateside.
TAYA (OS)
You're home? What are you doing?
CHRIS
(looks around for answer)
I guess I just needed a minute.
TAYA (OS)
Chris, the kids are dying to see you.
It's been nine months.
CHRIS
Yeah, I know... Me too. I'm coming.
TAYA (OS)
(pause)
Are you alright?
CHRIS
Yeah. I'm good.
TAYA (OS)
Then come home. We miss you.
He nods silently, listens to his kids.
(03.18.14) 110.
CHRIS
Okay.
141 OMITTED 141
141A INT. KYLE HOME 141A
CLOSE ON- the back of Chris' head. He watches a WAR MOVIE
on TV. As CAMERA CIRCLES the room, we glimpse THE MOVIE;
an injured soldier calls for help amid shocking gunfire.
TRACKING BEHIND THE TV, we see Chris' wrought face and a
household bustling around him. COLTON carries party
plates outside, MCKENNA fights to get cowboy boots on and-
TAYA CALLS to him from the kitchen but we can't hear her
until the CAMERA TRACKS to HER POV-- the gunfire is gone,
the TV IS OFF. That war movie is playing in his head.
TAYA
Chris...?
He finally looks up, slick with sweat, affecting calm.
142 EXT. BACKYARD - DAY 142
Streamers twist against gunmetal sky. COLTON and MCKENNA
set up birthday decorations. The family dog, A PYRENEES
SHEEPDOG, bounds about. TAYA AND CHRIS, on back steps.
TAYA
--his game is Saturdays. He's the tallest
kid on the team. The doctor said he could
be six-four. I can't wait for you to see
him play. Maybe you could even coach?
Chris looks past his kids, looking a thousand yards out.
TAYA
McKenna's about to lose that tooth and
I'm worried she's going to swallow it.
She said she'd let you pull it. But only
you.
His head falls. When he looks up--
COLTON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY UNDERWAY
6 YEAR OLDS and PARENTS mill around but all WE HEAR--
(03.18.14) 111.
TAYA (VO) (CONT'D)
I wish you'd talk to me, Chris.
COLTON AND TWO FRIENDS chase each other around the yard.
TAYA (VO) (CONT'D)
I just feel this dark space between us
and I don't know how to reach you.
THE SHEEPDOG jumps on the back of COLTON'S FRIEND. The
boy goes down hard, gets up crying, running from the dog.
The Sheepdog does it again. THE BOY FALLS AND HIS CRYING
is cuts into scene. THE BOY'S MOM runs over. His back
clawed up.
BOY'S MOM
Get him off! Get away--
Chris rips the dog off by its collar. The dog snaps at
him and in an instant he whips out his .45 to shoot it.
TAYA (OC)
No! He's a puppy. He doesn't know!
Chris looks up, bent with animus, and he's looking at the
face of his children, their friends, and their parents--
They look at him, terrified. He releases the dog. Lost.
143 OMITTED 143
144 OMITTED 144
145 OMITTED 145
146 OMITTED 146
147 OMITTED 147
148 INT. VETERAN'S HOSPITAL - DAY 148
Harsh light. Water-stained walls. CHRIS looks beaten,
afraid and dubious of this BUTTONED-DOWN DOCTOR.
(03.18.14) 112.
DOCTOR
Maybe you saw things, or did some things
over there that you wish you hadn't--
CHRIS
That's not me.
DOCTOR
What's not you?
CHRIS
I was just protecting my guys. They were
trying to kill our soldiers and-- I'm
willing to stand before my creator and
answer for every shot I took.
(struggles)
The thing that haunts me are all the guys
I couldn't save.
NAVY DOCTOR
You want to save more guys, walk down any
hall in this hospital. We got plenty
soldiers that need saving.
(pulls prescription pad)
I'm going to recommend Zoloft and--
149 OMITTED 149
150 EXT./INT. REC ROOM 150
CHRIS steps to a window looking in on TEN YOUNG VETERANS
sitting around a TV; wounded, edgy, in need. A legless
Marine with a jelly-roll face looks up; this is "WYNN".
151 EXT. SHOOTING RANGE, UNIDENTIFIABLE LOCALE - DAY 151
CHRIS kneels before WYNN (wheelchair) who's armed with a
.300 resting on Chris' shoulder. Wynn takes aim, FIRES--
CHRIS
How's it feel?
WYNN
Feels like The Legend is trying to fuck
up my shot. Stay still, man.
Gun on shoulder, Chris is calm, he's found peace. BAM!
WYNN
Bulls-eye, boy! Damn, if that don't feel
like I got my balls back.
(03.18.14) 113.
Chris dusts himself off. There's healing here.
WYNN
Why you spend all this time with us? I
know you got a family.
CHRIS
I heard you had a nice boot collection
before the war and--
WYNN
(laughs)
Seriously man. Why do you do it.
CHRIS
We gotta take care of our own.
Chris squints into the falling sun and time passes with--
LONG FADE:
151A EXT. ROADWAY 151A
The black F350 roars past a "Welcome to Texas" sign on
the interstate.
152 OMITTED 152
153 EXT. KYLE HOME - MIDLOTHIAN, TEXAS - DAY 153
A residential neighborhood. Texas flags wave from stoops.
CHRIS and COLTON carry boxes inside. "MAX THE SHEEPDOG"
bounds along with them and never leaves Chris' side.
BEDROOM
Chris enters to find Taya has placed his old COWBOY BOOTS
at the foot of the bed. He takes a seat and looks down at
the combat boots on his feet. He bends to unlace them--
153A EXT. PASTURE, TEXAS - DAY 153A
A pale Stallion gallops through prairie grass. Chris and
McKenna admire it from a rustic fence. Her pink cowboys
boots kick Texas dust onto his old boots.
(03.18.14) 114.
153B INT. BATHROOM, KYLE HOME - DAY 153B
Chris is showering when Taya sneaks in and flushes the
toilet. He howls at the scalding water and she's
laughing, rushing for the door when-- he lunges out and
grabs her, pulling her in with all her clothes on.
154 OMITTED 154
155 OMITTED 155
156 EXT. FIELD - DAWN 156
Under a watercolor dawn, CHRIS leads COLTON across a
prairie, hunting rifle on shoulder, teaching as they go.
THE SCORE BUILDS and follows them into morning.
157 INT. KYLE HOUSE - DAY 157
Dust motes drift across blades of light falling through
blinds onto CHRIS. He wears the BELT BUCKLE he won long
ago, pleated Levis, and twirls an antique six-shooter.
CHRIS
Get `em up, lil' lady. Hands in the air.
TAYA is at the window gazing at their kids in the yard.
TAYA
Can I tell you something.
CHRIS
Tell it to the judge.
TAYA
I'm proud of you and I don't say it
enough. I feel blessed. You're an
incredible father and-- I feel lucky to
have my husband back.
CHRIS
We could lock the doors. They can't get
out of the yard.
TAYA
I know how hard you fought to get here.
(03.18.14) 115.
CHRIS
You're worth fighting for.
She crosses to him, running a hand up his leg.
TAYA
Did you pleat those jeans?
CHRIS
Yes, ma'am. Right up the middle.
TAYA
Well, you're just a regular old cowboy
again, aren't you?
He kisses her, lifting her--
CHRIS
I meant what I said about locking the
doors.
TAYA
Aren't you and Chad going to the range?
CHRIS
(checks watch)
Not for four minutes.
TAYA
Is that all it takes.
CHRIS
It'll take half that. Then I got two
minutes leftover just to look at you.
He sways with her, dancing a little two-step.
TAYA
Who are you taking out?
CHRIS
This Marine. His mom does parking at
school and she asked for my help.
TAYA
Well don't be late for dinner.
COLTON and McKENNA race in, hugging on their dad.
COLTON
Dad, you want to play Skylander? Please--
(03.18.14) 116.
CHRIS
I gotta go do something but when I get
back, okay? But you have to let me win.
COLTON
No way.
MCKENNA
Poke the bear--
McKENNA pokes Chris and he BARKS like a dog.
MCKENNA
No. You're supposed to roar. Like Grrr.
She pokes him again and Chris emits a RUMBLING ROAR. She
giggles and hugs him so he'll save her.
CHRIS
I should get going...
He kisses his daughter and tosses his son's hair.
CHRIS
Look after our women, Bubba.
(turns to Taya)
Love you, babe.
TAYA
Love you too.
Chris kisses Taya and lingers, worshiping her. Dust motes
drift past and he appears immortal in the bladed light.
Then--
He walks out the door for the last time. The house grows
quiet. Colton plays video games. McKenna colors. The dog
lays by the door. And Taya stands in the golden light.
FADE TO BLACK:
CARD(1): "On February 2, 2013, Chris Kyle was killed by
a former Marine he was trying to help. He died as he
lived... looking after one of his own."
OUT OF BLACK:
157A EXT. TEXAS HIGHWAY 157A
Rain falls to Randy Travis singing Amazing Grace.
(03.18.14) 117.
ACTUAL FOOTAGE: A funeral procession appears over a
distant ridge. Police escorts lead a white hearse and 300
vehicles down a highway lined with people waving flags.
The last car finally passes. An UNKNOWN CIVILIAN stands
alone in a muddy field saluting a fallen hero.
CUT TO BLACK.
| American Sniper
Writers : Jason Hall
Genres : Action Drama
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