Red Tails: Hollywood Refused to Make Because of All-Black Cast

Here's the link to an interview with George Lucas, who totally financed Red Tails.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/george-lucas-hollywood-di_n_1197227.html

The Kid Rasta

 

Isn't Lucas "Hollywood"?? And it did get made.

 

I think what he is saying, is that most movies are financed directly from the studio and not from individuals. And no studio wanted to make the movie.

But you can still tell they don't think much of the film. because they released it in January which is known as a "dump month" for movies that aren't expecting to do well.

 

it got made, but if u look at the site it mention's lucas admitting the difficulty in getting it made because of the cast

it is news in the sense that it highlights race and the ongoing troubles

all-white shows and movies get made all the time

props to lucas for doing what he's done tho

 

Maybe. Big budget films get released before Christmas always.

You can bet Lucas is fronting for a group of investors. They want their film in the news. And they are getting it.

All those who want to see it should to boost it up. If you don't support movies you can't complain when things don't get made. Your money talks.

 

Correct on your first point...but dead wrong on your second point. Think: Save the Last Dance. That flick was released during Jan. 2001. It went on to become a hit movie for Paramount. The reason why it is being released in Jan., is because it faces little to no comp. Since George Lucas totally financed Red Tails...he pretty much determined when it would be released (20th Century Fox is the distributor only). He wanted the flick to have maximum potential for success. He stated in the interview that he would like to see a prequel & a sequel to it made (by a studio -- not him). That will only happen if the first one is successful.

The Kid Rasta

 

I'm just glad the movie was able to get green-lit in the first place. Hopefully it'll open doors for many more feature films of the same type.

 

he had to front most his money on it
see the last segment of the jon stewart show

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-january-9-2012-george-lucas

 

I hope the negroes go and see the movie because we been whining about movies of this caliber

 

If George Lukas had to fund his flick with a Black cast I would not be surprised on why Spike Lee could not have a flick that is financed by Hollywood or anyone else. If I had the bucks like Lukas or Buffet I would love to make a good IR flick. Don't hold your breath on the IR flicks by Hollywood.

 

Kid,I wonder why Save The Last Dance which made a lot of money didn't bring a lot more IR themed movies?

 

I will see the freebee preview and still I will pay to see it again.

 

he is banging a black woman

 

I'm looking forward to catching it in the cinema. I would also love to see movies where the backdrop isn't always historic racism. Let's see a bit more of black actors in other settings, such as:

 

I agree. It's time to move forward.

 

Forward ever, backward, never.

 

In their world, it could be just a business move.

Lucas stated he has been trying to get funding for this movie for about 20 years. The black woman he is dating is president of Ariel Capital, a mutual fund based in Chicago. The founder of that fund is a black man from Chicago who first started with Charles Schwab, the large stock discount brokerage.

It wouldn't surprise me if much of "his" funding came from that mutual fund.

As far as the movie goes, anyone who knows about the Tuskegee Airmen knows it was Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of then president Franklin Roosevelt who pushed to have black pilots. President Roosevelt was going to scrap the project because many of his advisors told him blacks weren't smart enough to fly planes. Eleanor Roosevelt had saw a black man fly a plane during the Paris World Fair in France in 1912. He was the best pilot of all of them which really impressed Eleanor.

If they really wanted to push a white person for the central theme, they could have pushed her out in front. But putting a white woman out front in a World War II movie may have seemed a bit much for some.

During World War II, the general of the Air Force for the United Stated was a black man, General Benjamin O. Davis. He was in charge of the unit that escorted B-52 bombers during bombing raids in Europe which was what the Tuskegee Airman were trained to do. That plus the fact that the military was segregated at that time and I can see why it was hard press to find a white person who was involved with the Tuskegee Airman success other than Eleanor Roosevelt.

When I was growing up in Detroit, the mayor of the city was a former Tuskegee Airman. We use to read about them when I was in junior high school which is why I know so much about them. They would also come to our schools on career day.

 

George Lucas is a billionaire. He can easily finance the movie (or any other movie) himself.

http://www.forbes.com/profile/george-lucas/

The Kid Rasta

 

Wrong. Many months ago the exec producer who helps run Lucas' company came out and said the reason why they chose January was because they wanted the movie to open on the MLK holiday weekend (for reasons why I shouldn't have to explain). It was part of the plan for a long time and frankly it may end up being a good decision, especially considering all the films that crashed and burned during the crowded holiday season.

 

Thank you.

Lucas financed the film entirely out of his own pockets.


A few weeks back Oprah and Tyler Perry saw a special screening of the flick and gave it their enthusiastic approval (whatever that means). Ebony magazine did its part by devoting an entire cover to the cast of the flick. And Nick Saban, the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, did the movie a huge favor too. He asked Lucas if he could screen the film for his entire football team the night before the championship game against LSU. After Alabama won the game Saban immediately brought up the film and talked about how it helped inspire the team. He brought up the movie a few more times in following interviews. That is the type of publicity money can't buy.


On a website that is devoted to black films there are a few posts by some bitter black women who hope the movie flops because two of its stars are Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. They were talking about how the movie should not include those dudes because black chicks hate them. I was confused by that until one guy responded that these ladies hate those two because they had white wives. That is some petty nonsense right there.