George Lucas's "Red Tails" Begins Production At Last (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

George Lucas's long-gestating project about the Tuskegee Airmen has finally started production. Screenplay was written by John Ridley from a story by Lucas. Prolific television director Anthony Hemingway will be helming. Rick McCallum will be producing for Lucasfilm. Lucas has assembled a hell of a cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Method Man, Kevin Phillips, Rick Otto, Lee Tergesen, Andre Royo, Ne-Yo, and Elijah Kelley.

Press Release here

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Good. This is a great story, and I look forward to seeing it made.

 

[Rhett_Y]

I waiting for the third time around with all the added special effects added in!

J/K..... I think this will be interesting to see....

 

[TravisR]

That's a helluva cast. I love Star Wars but I'm really looking to seeing some of Lucas' non-SW stuff again.

 

[mattCR]

A potentially great cast. Love or hate Lucas, some of his works are classic material, and I've always felt he has a vision for what he wants to do, and even if I don't go for it I admire his effort in his work.

I'm definitely interested because this could be a very good story; HBO a few years ago did a decent telling of the Airmen, but it suffers a bit as time goes on and was done on a pretty low budget, so not a lot of room to tell the tale.

I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Sam Favate]

Wow, finally. Wasn't this picture set to be made before Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade? Or was it just after? Either way, it has been a long time coming.

 

[Brian Borst]

Isn't anybody a bit disappointed Lucas isn't directing it himself? I've been wanting to see something non-Star Wars by him for a long time.

 

[Michael Harris]

To be honest, no. I think Lucas's strength is in pulling things together and applying his "vision". Directing and writing? Not so much any more.

 

[streeter]

Wasn't Cuba Gooding Jr. in the other Tuskegee Airmen movie, too?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I don't know, Lucas still does some unique and spectacular things behind the camera as director. He's never been an actor's director though.

I would have been very interested to see "Red Tails" as directed by Lucas. That being said, I'm also very interested in seeing "Red Tails" as directed by Hemingway too. He directed a great episode of Battlestar Galactica and was apparently pretty acclaimed for his work on "The Wire". It feels right, too, that a film about the Tuskegee Airmen would be written and directed by African Americans.

 

[TravisR]

He was the second unit director on The Wire for most of its run and then directed two episodes. While there's no bad episode of The Wire, one of his episodes is a classic.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Lucas is best as a story man and a hands-on producer.

I hope this project turns out well. If Lucas is gonna actually direct again, I want it to be one of those avante-garde cinema experiment films he says "no one will like" that so far has been all talk and no product.

 

[Ray H]

Also, I'm gonna take a guess and say that Hemingway's the reason why we're seeing for many castmembers from the Wire in this. And that's great. That show had an amazing cast and it's cool to see many of its supporting players getting a chance to shine.

 

[Flashgear]

I'm looking forward to seeing this...I just hope this film sticks to the truth (which is a great and inspiring story) and doesn't take off on multiple and politically driven tangents, thus losing focus with phony histrionics and even phonier heroics...there's a body of dubious mythology about the Red Tails that has found itself into print, and dramatic and so called documentary films in the past...I'm hoping for a realistic and believable cinematic treatment that is both a tribute to the veterans of the 99th pursuit squadron and the 332nd fighter group as well...true to the events and personalities (and systemic racism) of that era...when I was 14 (1970) I met and got the autograph of General Benjamin O. Davis USAF...he was an honoured guest of the Calgary (Canada) Stampede and rode in our parade...he was just about to retire from the Air force...I'll never forget the sight of him in uniform talking with our own RCAF veterans, many of whom were also WW11 fighter aces...(as an aside I also met Apollo 13 astronaut James Lovell at the same event)...these guys and many others epitomize humility and strength of character...the real heroes...I don't want to see a bunch of loud, indignant and hot dog type characters portray these splendid real life heroes...it would be an insult and not the tribute they deserve...hope that's not too much to ask...Terence Howard is a truly great actor and that gives me hope!