"L.A. Riots" screenwriter John Ridley has been appointed to work on script for WWII action adventure "Red Tails" which George Lucas will executive produce.
- August 28, 2007
AceShowbiz -
Getting a big job to do, TV writer John Ridley has been assigned to work on the screenplay of "Red Tails", a WWII action adventure about the Tuskegee Airmen that "Star Wars" creator George Lucas is set to executive produce and finance via his Lucasfilm shingle.
Story, obviously based on true events, revolves around a group of African-American fighter pilots who had to overcome racism and the color barrier to become the Tuskegee Airmen, the legendary first African-American pilots in U.S. military history. The planes the elite group rode were distinguished by their red-painted tails, from which the movie's title is derived.
Report from Variety claimed that Ridley was hired after Lucas read "L.A. Riots", the drama Ridley wrote for Spike Lee apart from the fact that the guy has already met some of the surviving pilots at a Texas convention. In bringing the project to life, Lucas is said to include his F/X company ILM to handle the flick's effects, especially in making the airborne fight sequences more realistic with Rick McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson both producing.
