Trivia / Red Tails

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $58 million. Box office, $50,365,377.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Tristan Wilds auditioned for the role of Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little before being cast as 2nd Lt. Ray "Ray Gun" Gannon.
• Creator Killer: This is the final film from Lucasfilm to directly involve both 20th Century Fox and Star Wars Special Edition/Prequel Trilogy producer Rick McCallum, as well as the only theatrical film involving director Anthony Hemingway and writer Aaron McGruder. Disney purchased Lucasfilm 9 months after Red Tails crashed at the box office, ending the firm's relationship with Fox and causing both Lucas and McCallum to retire from the firm; McCallum left America as a result to settle in Prague. Lucas was honored as a Disney Legend later.
• Directed by Cast Member: In the Latin Spanish dub, Ricardo Tejedo is Marty "Easy" Julian's voice actor as well as the ADR director.
• Fake American: Lightning was played by David Oyelowo, an Englishman.
• Fake Nationality: The Portuguese Daniela Ruah plays Lightning's Italian girlfriend Sofia.
• Hire the Critic: Throughout The Boondocks' run, Aaron McGruder, an otherwise professed Star Wars fan, frequently called out George Lucas for the racial stereotypes which Jar Jar Binks perpetuated. So when it came time for George Lucas to find a screenwriter for his film with an all black cast, he sought out McGruder personally. And not only did McGruder enthusiastically take the job, but the topic of Jar Jar reportedly never came up between them during production!
• Saved from Development Hell: George Lucas originally developed the idea in 1988, with a scheduled release for 1992. A number of writers worked on the project until John Ridley was hired in 2007 to write the final screenplay, which was then subsequently revised by Aaron McGruder. If what Lucas said on The Daily Show is true, another reason it took long to produce was because Hollywood executives did not think a movie with a mostly black cast would be successful or make money.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The film got stuck on it for a couple years while a distributor was found.
• Stillborn Franchise: George Lucas initially envisioned a trilogy about the airmen going through training, fighting in the war, and then returning home. He made the middle portion first due to being the most audience-friendly, but it didn’t stop the film from flopping and ending any chance of the others being made.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Samuel L. Jackson was in talks with George Lucas at one point to star in and possibly direct the film.
  • Lucas was set to direct at one point.

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