BREAKING: DreamWorks and Warner Bros will team on Steven Spielberg‘s next film American Sniper, with Bradley Cooper aboard to star in the autobiography of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. Cooper optioned the book himself, along with Andrew Lazar’s Mad Chance, and it has turned out to be quite a coup for the actor. Jason Hall (Paranoia) wrote the script and will executive produce, with Spielberg, Cooper, Lazar, and Peter Morgan producing. Kyle, an expert marksman who spread his love for weapons by teaching others how to shoot, was recently and tragically gunned down along with a pal by a fellow discharged vet they had taken to a Texas shooting range to deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

The film is based on the book American Sniper: The Autobiography Of The Most Lethal Sniper In U.S. Military History by Kyle, Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice. The film chronicles Texas native Kyle’s journey from rodeo cowboy to SEAL Chief with the highest number of sniper kills in U.S. military history. The book spent 18 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and 13 weeks at No. 1. Cooper’s production company, 22nd & Indiana Pictures, optioned rights to the book a year ago with Lazar’s Mad Chance. Sheroum Kim overseeing for 22nd & Indiana and Jon Berg is overseeing for Warner Bros. DreamWorks’ Kristie Macosko Krieger and Adam Somner will produce for Spielberg. CAA and WME shared this big deal, with WME repping the book. Hall’s repped by CAA and Management 360.