Wednesday, October 01, 2008

LUCAS HIRES HEMMINGWAY AND RIDLEY FOR 'RED TAILS'


Very excited to report that George Lucas has selected Anthony Hemmingway to direct his upcoming film "Red Tails." Hemmingway, is best known for directing episodes of CSI: NY, The Wire, and ER. Also excited to report that screenwriter, John Ridley, has written the script. Ridley is known for writing the movie "Undercover Brother", "Barbershop" (TV Series), and for his many novels. Most notable is his novel, "Stray Dogs," that was made into the feature film "U-Turn," directed by Oliver Stone.

According to the Washington Post, 'Red Tails' was the name of the first group of black airmen to serve as pilot escorts for American bombers in the war. Although their ability to fly had been questioned on racist grounds, the Red Tails' record in the sky was so impressive that they were in demand to lead bombing runs over Italy and Germany in the last year of the conflict.

Lucas is said to have been developing this project for nearly two decades now but put it aside to work on the second trilogy of "Star Wars" and to revive the "Indiana Jones" franchise.

Congrats to Anthony and John. Great to see black folks working on both sides of the fence.