Despite spending years on the Star Wars prequels and being heavily involved with Indiana Jones IV (mostly mucking about with the script), George Lucas has long harboured a dream to throw a World War Two fighter pilot's drama on to the big screen.
Red Tails, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen who battled racism for the chance to fly into the war and became well known for their red-painted plane tail fins, has been bubbling away for ages in George’s noggin, and now he’s found a writer to bring it to life.
John Ridley, who penned the Undercover Brother movie and has just handed in a draft of LA Riots to Spike Lee caught Lucas’ attention, which led to him getting the gig.
"These were guys who had to figure everything out for themselves, because military units were completely segregated at the time and there was no seasoned war pilot to teach them," Ridley blabbed to Variety. "President Roosevelt formed the unit as a publicity stunt because he wanted the black vote for his re-election campaign, but these guys were such skilled pilots that they ended up becoming true heroes by escorting bombers in North Africa and Italy.
“ILM will make the fight sequences come alive, and make you feel what it must have been like to be 19 and flying in a fighter plane,” he added. Oh will they? Really? Let’s hope so. Because the last time George tried to make us feel something, we felt sick.
