In a war where the line between combatants and civilians is blurred, making the call of when and when not to pull the trigger isn't so simple.
It's in that exact scenario where the American Sniper trailer begins, as U.S. sniper and Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper, must choose whether or not to shoot a child approaching U.S. troops with an explosive in hand. Watch it below.
The trailer for the Clint Eastwood-directed film is definitely intense. American Sniper is based on an auto-biography of the same name, telling the events of Kyle's life and his service in the military, where he holds the distinction of having the most sniper kills in U.S. history. Judging from that record, it's probably safe to assume he went ahead and pulled the trigger.
After leaving the military, Kyle lived in Texas with his family, staying in the spotlight after writing his book American Sniper and appearing on television shows like Stars Earn Stripes. Kyle died on February 3, 2013 after being shot and killed along with a friend at a Texas shooting range. The man responsible is currently awaiting trial for murder.
Since 2012, and following his death, Kyle and his estate became involved in a legal battle with former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura over claims made in interviews and Kyle's biography about a confrontation between the two men that ended with Kyle punching Ventura. Kyle said Ventura had been making derogatory remarks involving the military. Ventura denied all claims and filed a libel lawsuit against Kyle. After Kyle's death, his estate was added as a defendant to the case, and a jury awarded Venture $1.8 million in the summer of 2014. All future editions of American Sniper will no longer include the section relating to the incident.
It's unclear how much of Kyle's life story Eastwood will be telling on screen. Kyle's death is still fairly recent, but that might not stop the film from depicting the events on screen. The movie will not, however, include any mention of the legal battle between Ventura and Kyle.
American Sniper opens nationwide on January 16, 2015.
