George Lucas Claims Racism Reason for Lack of Studio Support for 'Red Tails'

[T'Jai]

Werent most 60's blaxploitation films independently financed and super low budget? what would be considered the modern day counterparts of those blaxploitation films? im sure they were far less funded and distributed than most "black movies" today.

They were low budget but most of them were paid for and produced by whites, a few sources say that much of the money was spent on Marketing and Soundtracks... modern day I'm not certain there aren't really many low budget exploitation films (besides maybe horror) being wide released in general let alone featuring or starring minorities. In terms of release I can't find anything solid (in my micro research) but I believe the films were pretty widely released(considering Shaft was .5 mil to make and earned 13 mill it had to be pretty widely placed). Very few (Black) action movies are made today most if not all have several key white characters making them more majority friendly.. the possible evolution to the next stage was halted by the NAACP protesting the negative messages of the films, and the pressure causing the Producers to stop making them...

but, i looooove old school blaxploitation movies: coffy, blackbelt jones, cleopatra jones, foxy brown, blacula, etc. and i love old school afro-centric TV shows. i think a lot of things play into where the "ball was dropped". a big part being quality. i mean, look at the afro-centric sitcoms on TV today. they're crap when compared to their old school counterparts like Good Times, Sanford and Son, Whats Happening, etc. How can i be exposed to that, and now im expected to enjoy the crap tyler perry churns out?

there was an emerging voice and feel in those days. one of the issues (and I'm not sure why this happened) is that the performers didn't evolve into producers so the medium didn't progress. I agree with the "Tyler Perry" thing but as they make money they are the only thing Hollywood will "Promote" I quote promote because he does it all, they have just agreed to distribute because there is a decent return.

did a white hollywood recognize the success and money these things were making then try to take it over resulting in a drop in quality? i dunno. i mean, white jewish dudes were writing and producing a lot of those old TV shows. and if these things were making money, which they were, hollywood's greed for money surely outweighs its racism.

Unless external and internal pressures make the stress of doing said projects not worth the cash... which is what I surmised happened.

i dont think you can pinpoint a single reason as to why things evolved the way they did. its weird that it seems afro-centric entertainment was far better produced and received in the 60's/70's where racism was widely rampant.

Well there was an increase in production lead by Cosby and Quincy Jones that led to the beloved Cosby Show, A different World, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air... it kinda fell off after that...

i guess Dreamgirls would be an example of a movie that had a pretty big marketing push. along with most tyler perry movies. i suppose hollywood recognizes the limited box office resulting from most black movies, therefore tailor the money spent for advertising on that track record. why spend tons of money advertising something that they dont think will pay off comparatively? i mean, if hollywood was so racist they wouldnt of made the movie at all, right?

well if you look at the wonky holiday release schedule here it was difficult to find in a theater which would have frustrated prospective audiences... you can advertise the Hell out of a product if I can't find it I can't buy it. Why would they jack up the release schedule after spending all that money on advertisement? it makes no sense or someone wanted to make it, forced it through, and detractors made a janky release schedule to frustrate (low attention having) movie goers to suggest that said movies aren't worth the effort and make the Producers "Radical Idea" of a big black movie fail and remove the need and or temptation to do such a thing again. (Tyler does his own marketing)

i dont think these things result because hollywood hates black people. i think it all comes down to money. if hollywood thought they could make more money from afro-centric entertainment, they'd be all over it. but instead they've recognized a track record of limited returns and therefore tailor their productions accordingly. its business more than racism. and unfortunately, from time to time im sure that results in some potentially great movies not happening.

If holly wood would stop mickeying around with their larger budgeted black projects availability... the returns may not be so limited.
Business guided by racism...

yeah, thats a messed up mindset yer "friend" had. sad truth is that racism still exists in many degrees in all facets of life.

The worst for me is those who don't realize they harbor said feelings and become hostile when confronted with truth...

 

[Anti-Moderator]

This is a more appropriate trailer and gives a better idea of what the film is about.

That's the stuff right there.

 

[KalMart]

It's like Memphis Belle and Pearl Harbor.

 

[Holiday]

He basically said the studios don't think there is a big enough market to warrant the a large budget for a mostly black cast movie and they would not know how to market this movie.

Lucas has been trying to get the movie made for 20 years.

Second time that has been said in this thread so I'd like to point out that while yes, this movie took over two decades to produce, lack of studio support wasn't the sole cause. From Lucas:

"I wrote the script many years ago, and it turned out just like Star Wars in that it was way too big for one movie. There was the story of how they got trained at Tuskegee (Institute in Alabama), and how Eleanor Roosevelt became their champion. Then there was the battle movie that had piqued my interest initially. And finally the amazing saga of the start of the civil rights movement after the war. So this literally went on for 20 years, trying to get it all into one script, which meant leaving out many things we loved and going mainly with the war story and hinting at the rest."

Lucas also financed it himself because he wanted to do the movie his own way and not have it recut the way his first two movies were, not because he couldn't get financing from any studio.

 

[KalMart]

He did the SW prequels his way, and look how they turned out. Did they make money? Sure.....but yeesh...