Bradley Cooper is in talks to reunite with his American Sniper director Clint Eastwood for the new crime drama The Mule. Cooper and Eastwood rocked the film world in 2014 with American Sniper, which starred the actor as real-life Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. Not only did the military drama become only the second R-rated film in history at the time to crack the $300 million mark domestically (it went on the make $350 million stateside and $197 million overseas for a global cume of $547 million), it earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for Cooper, as well as an Oscar win for Best Sound Editing.
American Sniper also marked the first and last time Eastwood and Cooper worked together, although in an odd bit of circumstances, Cooper took the Oscar-winning director’s place at the helm for the upcoming remake of the musical drama A Star is Born, starring the actor and Lady Gaga. Now, though, it appears that Cooper will not only act under Eastwood’s direction again, he’ll actually co-star in the film with him.
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According to Variety, Cooper is in negotiations to join Eastwood for The Mule. The movie is about a destitute man in his 80s who takes on a seemingly simple job to drive, but is completely unaware he’s become a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. His activity as a driver, though, has caught the notice of DEA Agent Colin Bates. Cooper is reportedly in talks to play Bates.
Eastwood fans will no doubt be thrilled to hear that the legendary actor is going back in front of the camera again, since it has been six years since his last role as an aging baseball scout in the sports drama Trouble With the Curve. Clearly the film’s script speaks volumes to Eastwood, who turns 88 at the end of the month, since the screen legend on more than one occasion in the past few years has publicly stated that he is done with acting.
The bonus for Cooper is, his the role in The Mule allows him to work with Eastwood in a much different light, thus giving him the opportunity to gain insight into Eastwood’s acting sensibilities that few actors have had since since 2000 because Eastwood has only done a handful of films since then. Naturally, Cooper will also benefit again by watching Eastwood work behind the camera, especially since he’s transitioning to a career as a director himself with not only A Star is Born, but at the helm of an upcoming biopic Bernstein, where he will also star as legendary composer Leonard Bernstein.
