Clint Eastwood to Replace Steven Spielberg on ‘American Sniper’

Variety reports Clint is in talks for Warner Bros. biopic starring Bradley Cooper.

After losing Steven Spielberg as director, Warners Bros. has acted quickly to find a director for “American Sniper” with Clint Eastwood in talks to helm the biopic starring Bradley Cooper. Spielberg’s apparent reason for dropping the project was due to his inability to merge his vision for the film with the fixed budget. Jason Hall penned the script for “Sniper” about a Navy SEAL recounting his military career that included more than 150 confirmed kills. Film is based on the book “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History” by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice. Cooper’s production company 22nd & Indiana Pictures and Andrew Lazar’s Mad Chance Productions optioned rights to the book a year ago. Eastwood is in production on the adaptation of “Jersey Boys” and would jump to “American Sniper” once the musical finishes filming.

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the greatest war memoirs of all time.

Clint and Dina: News filters through of split as Clint prepares filming Jersey Boys

More sad news has begun to filter through the channels, this time regarding Clint and Dina's separation. Clint and Dina, his wife of 17 years, have separated, she confirmed in a report Yesterday, Thursday 29th August.

They've actually been living apart for a while but remain close, Dina Eastwood, 48, told Us Weekly, which first reported the news. Clint Eastwood's manager told E! News he knew 'nothing about this,' noting that his 83-year-old client was off shooting a film and does not have a publicist. 

Clint and Dina during happier times

The film in question is probably Jersey Boys, a musical biography of the Four Seasons-the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. The film was due to start filming this summer (more on that as it happens).

Jersey Boys: Due for release in 2014

A source, who characterized the split as 'amicable,' told Us that the breakup actually happened in June 2012. The couple have not been photographed together since 2011. Dina, whose reality show Mrs. Eastwood & Company clocked seven episodes in 2012, entered rehab for depression and anxiety in April, (according to TMZ). A tabloid report in March (via the New York Post) had also reported that the couple were reportedly squabbling at Clint's daughter Alison's wedding.

Sad times...

‘Magnum Force’ Director Ted Post Dies at 95





Clint with Post filming on location Magnum Force

I was sad to learn that director Ted Post, who directed numerous early TV shows as well as the Clint Eastwood films Hang ‘em High and Magnum Force, died in Santa Monica on Tuesday 20th August. He was 95. He also directed more than 20 episodes of the TV Western series Rawhide.Throughout the 1950s and 60s Post helmed TV series including Danger in 1950, and going on to series including Perry Mason, The Rifleman and Gunsmoke. In the 1960s, he directed episodes of The Twilight Zone, The Defenders, Combat! and Peyton Place. The 1973 film Magnum Force was the first of the Dirty Harry sequels. Post also helmed features Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Harrad Experiment and Go Tell the Spartans, as well as the TV series Rich Man, Poor Man — Book II and the 1986 TV movie of Stagecoach. Born in Brooklyn, Post was a theater usher before studying acting, but then moved into directing. He is survived by his wife Thelma, a daughter, a son, four grandchildren, a brother and a sister. Services were held 1 p.m. Friday 23rd August at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, 5950 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles.