George Lucas Talks Trouble Funding Red Tails Because Of Its Black Cast (Video)

We can’t express how excited we are about the upcoming release of Red Tails, but according to legendary film director George Lucas, who executive produced Red Tails, getting funding for the movie was very difficult because of its all black cast. Lucas told Jon Stewart during a recent appearance on The Daily Show:

“This has been held up for release since 1942 since it was shot, I’ve been trying to get released ever since. It’s because it’s an all-black movie. There’s no major white roles in it at all…I showed it to all of them and they said no. We don’t know how to market a movie like this.”

Lucas also expressed his concern about the negative repercussions for black filmmakers if Red Tails fails to impress at the box office. He recently told USA Today

“I realize that by accident I’ve now put the black film community at risk [with Red Tails, whose $58 million budget far exceeds typical all-black productions]. I’m saying, if this doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’ll stay where you are for quite a while. It’ll be harder for you guys to break out of that [lower-budget] mold. But if I can break through with this movie, then hopefully there will be someone else out there saying let’s make a prequel and sequel, and soon you have more Tyler Perrys out there.”

Check out Lucas’ interview with Stewart in the video below, and BE SURE to get out and support Red Tails when it hits theaters everywhere on January 20.

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January 11th, 2012 | Mara | Comments Off |