In case you’ve never heard of it, George Lucas has had a movie called Red Tails that he’s wanted to make for many, many years now. This movie would be set in World War II and tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Now, it’s beginning to look like Lucas finally has the pieces that he’s been waiting for to move forward on the project.
The newest additions to the cast are WWII movie veteran Cuba Gooding Jr. and rapper/actor Method Man. They join a cast that already includes the former War Machine-to-be Terrence Howard, Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston, Ne-Yo, and a chunk of the cast of The Wire in Tristan Wilds, Rick Otto, Michael B. Jordan and Stacie Davis. The movie is to be directed by Anthony Hemingway, who has all kinds of TV show experience, but little in the world of film. He’s been heavily involved in The Wire (explaining the group of cast from the show being used here), acting as Director for two of the episodes as well as an Assistant Director on 23 other episodes. He’s also directed episodes of ER, CSI (NY and Miami), True Blood, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica.
Click over for a quote from George Lucas and an official film description.
Lucas had this to say about his passion project:
I’ve been wanting to do ‘Red Tails’ for 20 years, and we’ve finally got the means to showcase the skill of the Tuskegee pilots. We’re working on techniques which will give us the first true look at the aerial dogfighting of the era. And our top-notch cast will really make this story special.
Below is the film’s official description.
‘Red Tails’ is set in 1944 during the heat of WWII when the famed pilots stepped up to their fated entry into the war. Relegated to second-class citizens due to the U.S. government’s racist policies at the time, their success under the most dangerous of circumstances earned the group legendary recognition. Hundreds of black airmen would follow them from the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama overseas before the war ended.
No word on when production is expected to begin.
[Source: MTV Movies Blog]
