Anti-‘American Sniper’ film planned by Egyptian director: ‘Iraqi Sniper’

Clint Eastwood’s hit film about former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle has inspired a famous Egyptian director to begin a response film tentatively titled “Iraqi Sniper.”

Amr Salama confirmed that he is teaming with fellow director Hany Abu-Assad and producer Mohamed Hefzy to portray Iraqi sniper Mustafa as a protagonist.

“He’s the hero in my film,” Mr. Salama told The Hollywood Reporter in an exclusive interview published Wednesday. “I hated [’American Sniper’]. That was my inspiration — I hated it so much that I wanted to work on a different version of that story. But I’m trying to make an anti-war film. Whereas ’American Sniper’ was pro-war.”

“American Sniper” grossed nearly $550 million after its release in December 2014 and received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

But director Clint Eastwood, however, explicitly stated over the years that “American Sniper” is an anti-war film.

“I think it’s nice for veterans, because it shows what they go through, and that life — and the wives and families of veterans. It has a great indication of the stresses they are under,” Mr. Eastwood told THR in 2015. “And I think that all adds up to kind of an anti-war [message].”

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The film’s screenwriter made similar statements to Time magazine.

“People see the movie poster, and it’s got a guy and the American flag, and they know Clint Eastwood — the Dirty Harry guy and the Republican convention guy — directed it,” Jason Hall said. “So they think it’s some jingoistic thing. I would challenge that in a big way. Chris was a man who believed in something and who therefore was useful to a government that needed him to go to war. It cost him his physical health, his mental health and almost cost him his family — but Chris probably would have paid the price over and over again if he’d been asked, which is both patriotic and totally tragic.”

Mr. Salama told THR that his goal is to make “Iraqi Sniper” his next project.

“The same actor who played [Mustafa] in ’American Sniper’ — Sammy Sheik — is attached to my film,” the director said.