Most war movies have an expertly drawn demarcation line between “good” and “evil.” In Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film, American Sniper, the clear hero was Navy SEAL Chris Kyle—and his kill-shot accuracy The enemy? The Iraqi insurgents and sniper, Mustafa, he would eventually get the better of.
Now, an award-winning Egyptian director wants to tell the other side of the story—from the perspective of an Iraqi sniper. The project’s working title is Iraqi Sniper. As The Hollywood Reporter reports, Amr Salama, who’s won multiple awards abroad for his films, will be developing what he says is “the story about the villain.”
Says Salama of his film: “[Mustafa’s] the hero in my film….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.”
While Salama’s “Mustafa” may be based on one of Iraq’s top sniper’s, it’s not a pro-terrorist film. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, the director tells THR. “I’m trying to make an anti-war film … whereas American Sniper was pro-war.”
The film is set to be produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Hany Abu-Assad.
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