john ridley Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just to clear up, George Lucas is not directing his first non-Star Wars movie in 35 years. I repeat, George Lucas is not returning to the director's chair. Once again ... never mind, I think you've got it.

Two days ago there was an AP story about Lucasfilm's Tuskegee Airmen film, Red Tails -- perhaps you caught my post -- but it didn't note what Lucas' involvement would be. As I wrote, the article seemed to assume that he was directing the project. A number of sites around the web also treated the news (more like an update) as if it claimed that Lucas was indeed helming the WWII-set picture. Others speculated that he was taking the reigns. Well, he's not. He's merely serving as executive producer. There is no director signed on yet.

Late August was the last time we mentioned George Lucas' Red Tails, but considering the Star Wars director has been wanting to make the film for decades, less than a year between reports is not too bad. Plus, the new AP story about the film's preproduction couldn't come at a better time. People are currently talking about Spike Lee's upcoming African Americans in WWII film, Miracle of St. Anna, and Red Tails also focuses on blacks fighting in the war. Specifically it deals with the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corp., otherwise known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of pilots, bombardiers and navigators.

The AP story mostly features quotes from Tuskegee vets, who share their memories and their hopes for what the film will show. But there's also some minor updates courtesy of producer Rick McCallum, who's reportedly now scouting locations in the Czech Republic and Italy. He says that Lucas is hoping to begin shooting later this year or early 2009 and that the script by John Ridley (Three Kings) "balances difficult and painful issues with what is, at its heart, the story of men with a dream to fly and serve their country." So, apparently the script is finished, yet it's still unclear who will be directing Red Tails; the AP story almost seems to assume that Lucas will be holding the reigns himself.

Once he's finished producing Indiana Jones IV (still no official title, sigh), George Lucas will make a movie about the Tuskegee Airmen ... finally. Apparently, he's been talking about doing this since Howard the Duck (according to Harry Knowles' memory), and it was long assumed to be a dead project. While I don't remember anything from twenty years ago, I do recall Lucas and Rick McCallum mentioning this to IGN back in 2005. At the time, the movie, titled Red Tails, was expected to begin production within the year and the producers were meeting with Tuskegee vets. Two years later, Lucas has just now found his screenwriter: John Ridley. Apparently Ridley has written Spike Lee's L.A. Riots script, Lucas got his hands on a copy, and sees Ridley as the best fit to write about African-American pilots in World War II.

Personally, I'd have already pinned Ridley as perfect for the project by imagining a mix between the screenwriter's past work (Three Kings meets Undercover Brother? Yes!). However, it could be a little more serious than we're used to from him. After recently meeting with Tuskegee vets in Texas, he may want to give the survivors a respectable tribute. It may still be awhile before we get to see Red Tails, which will be overseen by Lucas but produced by McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson (CBS' Navy NCIS), because Ridley is just getting started on his script. The writer also has his directorial debut in the works, an adaptation of James McManus' Positively Fifth Street. Although viewers have already seen the Tuskegee story in a 1995 made-for-HBO feature (The Tuskegee Airmen, starring Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding, Jr.), Lucasfilm's movie sounds to be a lot bigger, with ILM doing the aerial fight sequences. As long as it doesn't look as cartoony as the WWI-set Flyboys, that could be appealing. Almost like the Star Wars space battles, but with planes!

It seems like a big budget Hollywood film about the 1992 L.A. Riots was almost destined to happen, and who better to take on this monster of a film than one of the most prolific African-American filmmakers out there -- Spike Lee. The director will once again be teaming up with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment (he also worked with them on Inside Man) to bring this true-life tragedy, simply called L.A. Riots, to the big screen.

While the director is also hard at work on an Inside Man sequel, it appears Universal is making L.A. Riots its top priority, as they want the script (which is being written by Undercover Brother's John Ridley) in their hands before Christmas. As most of you are probably already aware, the 1992 riots were sparked when four white police officers were acquitted of beating up black motorist Rodney King, even though the entire event was captured on videotape. The subsequent riots in Los Angeles caused the death of 55 people, along with thousands of injuries and a whopping $1 billion in damages. Yeah, it was a pretty big deal and, at the time, I was happy I wasn't in L.A. On how he plans to approach the touchy subject, Lee said: "This isn't about some cavalcade of stars, but rather a truthful and realistic examination of what happened, what the ramifications were and where we are now, in hopes that something like this doesn't happen again."

Lee was actually in L.A. during the riots, as he was screening an early cut of Malcolm X. What did he do? "I went straight to LAX, and my ass was on the red eye." It should be interesting to see how this film turns out, and whether or not it will be nominated for an Oscar before production even begins. Ya know, Hollywood's way of saying, "We're so sorry this happened, but here's a shiny gold statue for you to put above the fireplace." And since they're demanding a script right away, could they be itching to get this puppy into theaters late next year? If that's the case, then it's going to be awhile before Inside Man 2 sees the light of day.