See the tense trailer for Bradley Cooper's "American Sniper"

The story of the "most lethal sniper in U.S. history" is coming to theaters.

"American Sniper" stars Bradley Cooper as Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the man with the highest number of sniper kills ever in the U.S. military. Clint Eastwood is directing.

The film is based on Kyle's autobiography of the same name, which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It hits theaters Christmas Day.

In the trailer below, we're shown a heart-pounding scenario in which Kyle is faced with sniping a mother and child, who may or may not be carrying a weapon.

As Kyle focuses his aim, we're given flashbacks to his marriage and rise to SEAL chief. But will he pull the trigger? We'll have to wait until December to find out.