They hit it big at the box office with American Sniper, which also went on to score several Oscar nominations and one trophy. Since then, Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood have been looking for a way to work together again and they may have found it in The Mule.
News that Eastwood was looking to to direct and appear in front of the camera broke in January. The Mule adapts a New York Times article by Sam Dolnick that chronicled the real-life experiences of Leo Sharp. The 90-year-old was an award-winning horticulturist and decorated World War II veteran known for his prized lilies when he was busted for running drugs for Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, and sent to prison. He was transporting $3 million worth of cocaine through Michigan in his beat-up old pickup truck when he was nabbed by the DEA. Sharp was sentenced to just three years after his lawyer argued that his client’s dementia sent him down the wrong path.
Cooper, who is still in talks, would play DEA agent Colin Bates, a hard-charging type who collars Eastwood's character, named Earl Stone in the script, which has seen work from Gran Torino's Nick Schenk.
Whether he actually signs on might depend on Cooper's schedule, as he's finishing his directorial debut, A Star Is Born and has been working on a Leonard Bernstein biopic that he'll direct and star in. Perhaps, given Eastwood's typically quick shooting style, he could squeeze this one in between.
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