“American Sniper,” the Clint Eastwood-directed action film starring Bradley Cooper, will be released on a limited basis on Christmas Day and will go wide on Jan. 16 of next year, Warner Bros. said Tuesday.
Jason Dean Hall wrote the adaptation of Chris Kyle’s autobiography of the same name. Sienna Miller, Max Charles, Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner, Cory Hardrict and Sam Jaeger co-star. Kyle was a heavily decorated Navy SEAL who claimed more than 255 kills during four tours in the Iraq War.
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The studio also pushed “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” from Jan. 16, 2015 to Aug. 14 of next year, and moved the release of “Point Break” up a week, from Aug. 7 of next year to July 31, 2015.
The limited opening will qualify “American Sniper” for Oscar consideration, but Christmas is crowded. Also debuting on that day are Universal’s Angelina Jolie-directed biopic “Unbroken,” Disney’s musical “Into the Woods,” Sony’s James Franco-Seth Rogen comedy “The Interview,” the Weinstein Company’s family film “Paddington” and the Paramount comedy “Hot Tub Time Machine 2.”
The wide release date will pit “American Sniper” against Universal’s Michael Mann thriller “Blackhat,” Sony’s Kevin Hart comedy “The Wedding Ringer” and TWC’s animated soccer film “Underdogs.”
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“Man From U.N.C.L.E.” is directed by Guy Ritchie and stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer. On its new date, it will will go up against Universal’s drama “Straight Outta Compton” and Relativity’s untitled armored car comedy.
“Point Break” will face off against the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy “Grimsby” from Sony and the Fox drama “Paper Towns.”