Tuskegee Airmen movie “Red Tails” a hard sell in Hollywood

More than two decades in the making, George Lucas’ passion project “Red Tails” hit theaters today after a long search to find a distributor that wanted to market an expensive film with an all-black cast.

Lucas spent $58 million of his own money to produce “Red Tails,” an action movie about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-African American aerial combat unit that paved the way for the integration of the U.S. armed services.  It was a risky venture by Hollywood standards, and one that director Anthony Hemingway said carried enormous responsibility.

“I went to Tuskegee, Alabama and actually had the chance to look into the eyes of living history and when I looked into their eyes and connected with them it really it -- it registered and the weight of the world was on my shoulders at that point,” he said. 

Hemingway told “Nightly News” it was “a struggle” to get the green light from a studio, but that didn’t come as a surprise.

“It’s not a shock that the system or Hollywood didn’t want to tell the story,” he said. “We’re thankful that George [Lucas] did what he did and had the passion to … help tell this story.”

Actor Terrence Howard, who plays Col. A.J. Bullard in the movie, told “Access Hollywood” “half” of the distribution studios rejected the movie, telling filmmakers, “No, we don’t know how to market it.”

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