The Tuskegee Airmen and their historic journey are coming to the big screen in the movie Red Tails, slated to hit theaters next Friday.
Directed by Anthony Hemingway and produced by George Lucas, the film chronicles the lives of the first African Americans to complete pilot training for the Army Air Forces during World War II. The film centers upon the members of the 332nd fighter group as they face discrimination both at home, during their training at Moton Field, Alabama, and abroad, as they escort bombers during raids in Europe.
According to USA Today, George Lucas has been trying to make the film a reality for more than 20 years, and even spent $58 million of his own money to make it happen. Among the film’s stars are Oscar Winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oscar nominee Terrence Howard, who plays a character loosely founded on Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr., the man that commanded the 477 Bombardment Group and later went on to become the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force.
While none of the scenes in the film were actually filmed at Moton Field, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site and Museum located there will be offering an extended tour schedule during the film’s premier weekend, in the hope that the movie will prompt excited movie goers to come out and see the real thing.
Check out the trailer of the film below.
