Red Tails news
Here is some information about "Red Tails" -- not directly about Lee, but about the production in general. Bottom line is that the movie is in post-production, it had a $25 million budget, and is now apparently scheduled for a 2010 release (even though IMDb is still saying 2009).
Also, I need to update the LeeTergesen.info page for "Red Tails" with a new name for Lee's character: Maj. Col. Jack Tomilson.
Now, on with the news:
Comic Con Wrap-Up article
The surprising omissions from Comic Con were any news or announcements regarding ... the George Lucas-produced World War II action-drama “Red Tails.” Considering [it] is due for a 2010 release, you’d think Lucasfilm would want to get the publicity machine rolling as the drama, which tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, is the first film Lucas has produced since last year's “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Wall Street Journal article
Mr. Lucas ... and his executive producer, Rick McCallum, recently completed the filming of "Red Tails," a low-budget movie about African-American fighter pilots during World War II, in which locations in the Czech Republic doubled for Italy.
With a budget of $25 million, "Red Tails" was relatively inexpensive to make for Lucasfilm, Mr. Lucas's production company, and Mr. McCallum said the high skill level of Czech film crews overcame the lack of tax breaks.
Bryan Cranston interview
Cranston spent the hiatus playing another sort of disreputable character - Major William Mortamus, a racist officer in the U.S. Army of the 1940s - in RED TAILS, the long-awaited George Lucas-produced drama about the Tuskegee Airmen, a WWII airborne unit comprised of African-American pilots.
"I play the bad guy," says Cranston. "I’m a colonel, racist, bigoted, who does not want to give the Tuskegee Airmen an opportunity to show what they can do. What I tried to do [as an actor] is to convey the sense that I didn’t hate these people - I’m trying to protect them from embarrassing themselves and the United States Army because [in the character’s mind] they’re just not capable. ‘I wouldn’t allow a dog to be in a tank and ruin the tank or kill the dog, either. And you’re sending up these 'boys' in these intricate machines, and it’s not going to end good, and shame on us for allowing that to happen.’ And that’s the point of view, which I think is scarier [than outright hatred], actually, that he just completely believes in that."
... "RED TAILS is in post-production. We finished shooting in Prague and I had a great time and I really became a fan of [RED TAILS star] Terrence Howard as a person. I was already a fan of him as an actor, but now also as a person - he’s a gentleman and created an environment that we were able to have some fun in and do our jobs well. There are a lot of [effects] ILM is going to do, that George Lucas’ organization is going to take care of."
Also, I need to update the LeeTergesen.info page for "Red Tails" with a new name for Lee's character: Maj. Col. Jack Tomilson.
Now, on with the news:
Comic Con Wrap-Up article
The surprising omissions from Comic Con were any news or announcements regarding ... the George Lucas-produced World War II action-drama “Red Tails.” Considering [it] is due for a 2010 release, you’d think Lucasfilm would want to get the publicity machine rolling as the drama, which tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, is the first film Lucas has produced since last year's “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Wall Street Journal article
Mr. Lucas ... and his executive producer, Rick McCallum, recently completed the filming of "Red Tails," a low-budget movie about African-American fighter pilots during World War II, in which locations in the Czech Republic doubled for Italy.
With a budget of $25 million, "Red Tails" was relatively inexpensive to make for Lucasfilm, Mr. Lucas's production company, and Mr. McCallum said the high skill level of Czech film crews overcame the lack of tax breaks.
Bryan Cranston interview
Cranston spent the hiatus playing another sort of disreputable character - Major William Mortamus, a racist officer in the U.S. Army of the 1940s - in RED TAILS, the long-awaited George Lucas-produced drama about the Tuskegee Airmen, a WWII airborne unit comprised of African-American pilots.
"I play the bad guy," says Cranston. "I’m a colonel, racist, bigoted, who does not want to give the Tuskegee Airmen an opportunity to show what they can do. What I tried to do [as an actor] is to convey the sense that I didn’t hate these people - I’m trying to protect them from embarrassing themselves and the United States Army because [in the character’s mind] they’re just not capable. ‘I wouldn’t allow a dog to be in a tank and ruin the tank or kill the dog, either. And you’re sending up these 'boys' in these intricate machines, and it’s not going to end good, and shame on us for allowing that to happen.’ And that’s the point of view, which I think is scarier [than outright hatred], actually, that he just completely believes in that."
... "RED TAILS is in post-production. We finished shooting in Prague and I had a great time and I really became a fan of [RED TAILS star] Terrence Howard as a person. I was already a fan of him as an actor, but now also as a person - he’s a gentleman and created an environment that we were able to have some fun in and do our jobs well. There are a lot of [effects] ILM is going to do, that George Lucas’ organization is going to take care of."