--- title: 'American Sniper' Screenwriter on the Challenges of Adapting a Book Into a Movie description: The book wasn’t a full picture of the man, so the challenge was finding out who he was, and what the sacrifices he made entailed canonical: https://time.com/3713978/american-sniper-screenwriter-book-movie/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-18T21:14:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:52.765Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 'American Sniper' Screenwriter on the Challenges of Adapting a Book Into a Movie og:description: The book wasn’t a full picture of the man, so the challenge was finding out who he was, and what the sacrifices he made entailed og:url: https://time.com/3713978/american-sniper-screenwriter-book-movie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57295543533510fe/69877b21428a9ecab7cc6b26/931080_full.jpg?branch=production&width=674&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 674 og:image:height: 379 og:image:alt: AMERICAN SNIPER, 2014. ©Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'American Sniper' Screenwriter on the Challenges of Adapting a Book Into a Movie twitter:description: The book wasn’t a full picture of the man, so the challenge was finding out who he was, and what the sacrifices he made entailed twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57295543533510fe/69877b21428a9ecab7cc6b26/931080_full.jpg?branch=production&width=674&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _American Sniper_ Screenwriter on the Challenges of Adapting a Book Into a Movie > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=92aab7bc-edd6-452b-81d1-7926bb4e631d&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PpZTJML8.m3u8) (6:10)  _Published 2012-01-05. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who earned two Silver Stars in Iraq, explains the sniper's point of view_ by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Feb 18, 2015 9:14 PM UTC  AMERICAN SNIPER, 2014\. ©Warner Bros. AMERICAN SNIPER, 2014\. ©Warner Bros. Warner Bros by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Feb 18, 2015 9:14 PM UTC [_Answer_](http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-challenges-when-adapting-a-book-into-a-movie-tv-show/answer/Jason-Hall-51) _by_ [_Jason Hall_](http://www.quora.com/Jason-Hall-51)_, Screenwriter of_ American Sniper, _on_ [_Quora_](http://www.quora.com/)_._ Chris Kyle’s book didn’t fully encompass who he was. It was written at the time when he had just gotten back from war. He was angry, dissolute and fractured, in many ways, by these four tours of duty that he had done. It was the close to a decade of war and training for it that had consumed him. The book was dictated in a couple of weeks after that time. There were lots of questions that the book asked, but didn’t answer like who this guy was, who he was before, and who he would become. There was a lot of anger in the book. I had met Chris, and I knew the book wasn’t a full picture of the man. So the challenge was finding out who he was, and what the sacrifices he made entailed. There was a lot of stress. You could read it in between the lines of the book, but it wasn’t fully explored in the narrative. That was my challenge — to get the full picture of the man. I did it the best I could with him when he was alive. I got a lot from him, and I also got to witness the change and softening that occurred in him over the couple of years before his murder. We got to become friends and the laughter started to come back. This is what happens with warriors — sometimes they find their way back and sometimes they don’t. But I was witnessing him finding his way back. After his murder, his wife folded me into the fuller picture of his story. She was able to articulate the things that men sometimes don’t tell other men. She talked about who he was before the war, what a big heart he had, how gentle he was with her, and how he walked her out of the darkness and into the light. That story from her took on a narrative and painted a fuller picture of this man and what his sacrifice had been with this war. She also painted a picture of what it was like for him to come back, how he found his way back in the months before his death, fully returning in her eyes. The story she told was: months before he was murdered, Chris walked into the kitchen and she looked at him and realized that for the first time since he had been home, her husband was finally home. _This question originally appeared on_ [_Quora: What are the challenges when adapting a book into a movie/tv show?_](http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-challenges-when-adapting-a-book-into-a-movie-tv-show) _More from Quora:_ * [What are some basic tips for writing a screenplay for the first time?](http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-basic-tips-for-writing-a-screenplay-for-the-first-time) * [Is it difficult to write a screenplay about a wartime movie?](http://www.quora.com/Is-it-difficult-to-write-a-screenplay-about-a-wartime-movie) * [What are the conversations like between you and the subject of your screenplay when you’re in the research phase?](http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-conversations-like-between-you-and-the-subject-of-your-screenplay-when-youre-in-the-research-phase) ## Transcript Hi, I'm Belinda Luscombe. I'm an editor- at- large at Time Magazine. Chris Kyle, the former Navy Seal. He's also quite possibly the most lethal sniper in American military history. And he's here today to face a little smattering of friendly fire with ten questions at Time magazine. Mr. Kyle, thanks for coming. Thanks for having me. So, you've got this new book, American Sniper. Isn't it kind of not done amongst you special operations guys to talk about your, your, your stuff? Yes, it is kind of frowned upon. So why did you decide to do the book? I wanted to be able to get it out about not the sacrifices that the military members make. But the sacrifices that their families have to go through. About the, the single mothers now, raising the children and doing all the day to day house chores. But then also stories about my guys who deserve to be out there. They didn't get the Medal of Honor, so you don't know about' em. But they died heroes and people should know about' em. I believe that number is 160 is the sort of number of confirmed [ CROSSTALK ] Yes, ma'am. [ CROSSTALK ] sniper kill? Can you tell me what, explain what it is to have a confirmed sniper kill? Alright, well while you're on your sniper rifle, you take a shot and the guy goes down and you have to have witnesses verify that he is dead. And does it get recorded as part of the battle damage assessment or? Every time we come back we have to fill out an assessment of what happened throughout the day. The time, the place, the caliber used, the distance he was. What exactly he was doing, where he was standing, what he was wearing. It's all in the detail. So and there's that somewhere we can't get more than 80 but somewhere there's 160 of those forms with your name on them. Yes, Ma'am. What goes through your mind when you're shooting a, a, a guy, it's usually a guy? The first time of killing someone it You're not even sure you can do it. I mean, you think you can but you never know until you're actually put in that position and you do it. And then you double think in yourself, my God will I do this? Am I gonna be okay? And then you're asking your leadership am I cleared hot to be able to do this? Am I gonna be in trouble? You know this guys really bad. And then you're worried when you get home All the politicians are gonna hang you out to dry and put you on trial for murder. But the first kill that you write about in the book, you actually kill a woman. And she has in one hand, uh, the hand of her toddler and in the other hand she has a grenade. Was that the hardest? For all the kills you had to do? Yeah, I had to do it to protect the marines. So, do you wanna lose your own guys or would you rather take one of them out? You have two sets of kind of heads in that you have your I'm back in America head and your I'm at war head. Your two different people. You turn it on and turn it off. You're a little more aggressive when you're at work and when you come home. You relax and try to be the different person. And my wife always said that when I came home from work I'd take my cape off and put on the dork cuz I stub my toe or break my toe or something at home. But at work I was fine. Does your wife still have to say your name before she gets back into bed? [ LAUGH ] It's not as bad. But that was even before I was in the military. I've always been, extremely jumpy, when I'm asleep. And the reason your wife has to say your name before she gets back into bed? I will come up swinging. So, [ LAUGH ] depends on how tired. If I'm out cold, then You can ring the doorbell and I will be asleep. I have to ask this question but, are there any kills you regret.? No! Not at all. Because they you feel like it was either you killed them or they killed other Americans? Yes m'am. You know, you in your book actually that most I think I'm quoting that most American's can't handle the reality of war. And the reports they, they sent back. The reports being the journalists, didn't help us at all. Which actually sounds a lot like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. Did you realize that? You can't handle the truth. [ LAUGH ]. Is that, is that how you feel that Americans just can't? Yes ma'am. So we should just, you're on Jack's side in this one. Yes ma'am. You, you do not think. For the most part, the public, very soft. You live in a dream world. You have no idea what goes on, on the other side of the world. That, the harsh realities that these people are doing to themselves, and then to our guys. And there are certain things that need to be done to take care of em. Now if people, if people did start out with the impression, before they have read your book that you were that a person who have killed upwards of 150 other people was a violent person. Maybe a bloodthirsty person. I, I'm not sure that the book would free them of that feeling. I really don't care what they think of me. I mean, I've got my family. I've got my friends. I'm not trying to make new friends. And the people who, if you actually spend time with me, you'll find out. I'm just fun loving guy. Now I, yes, I have been trying to be a little more aggressive if I need to be, but I don't go around dumping people. If you never ha, got to kill another person again, would you be okay with that? I'm fine. I don't have to kill to live. But you were good at it. I was decent at it. What if killing people turns out to be the thing you were better at than anything? I know it's not true. I'm a better husband and father [ LAUGH ] than I was a killer. I mean, I've got a job now I'm good at. I'm pretty comfortable with not having to kill anyone. Now, don't take deer hunting away from me. [ LAUGH ] Chris Kyle, thanks so much. Thank you. 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