Filmmaker George Lucas is primarily known for making blockbuster movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. However, he has also produced several projects outside the two main franchises. One of these projects was the 2012 war drama film Red Tails, based on the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.
The film was produced and financed by Lucas independently, with the filmmaker drawing inspiration from John Wayne’s war movies. However, despite Lucas’ passion for the project, it failed to impress critics and emerged as a box-office disappointment. Here is what Lucas had to say about the inspiration behind Red Tails and why it failed commercially.
George Lucas Revealed John Wayne Movies That Inspired Red Tails
George Lucas directed 1977’s Star Wars, with the filmmaker taking inspiration from the Vietnam War. After completing work on the original trilogy, Lucas conceived the concept for a war drama film based on the experiences of Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. The project eventually materialized as Red Tails, with Lucas serving as an executive producer.
During an interview with The New York Times, Lucas spoke about some of the inspiration behind the movie. The filmmaker revealed that World War II films such as Flying Leathernecks, starring John Wayne served as a template while he was conceiving the screenplay for Red Tails.
We made movies like this during the war, and everybody just loved them he said. I said there’s no reason why that idealism, that kind of naïveté, can’t still exist.
Lucas made the above statement, highlighting how the old war movies starring Wayne, which were highly patriotic and idealistic served as a driving force for his concept.
Furthermore, the director stated that he wanted to capture the essence of those movies but on his own terms. As a result, Lucas insisted on focusing on the African-American airmen during the Second World War as he felt the community deserved to have their history Hollywood-ized.
George Lucas Dropped the Ball With Red Tails In One Crucial Way
From Lucas’ words, it is evident that the filmmaker aimed to make a throwback film when tackling Red Tails. The film was turned down by most major studios, leading to Lucas financing it with his own money and even bearing the distribution costs.
However, the film starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. emerged as a major box office failure. Red Tails was made on a budget of $58 million, the film managed to gross only $50.4 million at the box office. As a result, the film was an embarrassing failure for Lucas, especially since he championed the project.
During the same interview, Lucas admitted that Black teenagers were the target audience for his movie. However, the filmmaker made a conscious decision to avoid the hip elements that drive teenagers to the theaters, including violence and bloodshed. As a result, Lucas likely dropped the ball by alienating the film’s target audience, which might be why it flopped.
Red Tails is streaming on Disney+.
