Film legend George Lucas has often complained about being trapped into a specific filmmaking niche after his Star Wars films saw immense success and following, and now he finally has made the smaller movie he has always wanted to make. Red Tails is about the Tuskegee Airmen and the long-awaited film finally has a set release date of January 20, 2012.

The last time Lucas produced a film that was not affiliated with either the Star Wars or Indiana Jones franchises was back in 1994. Directed by Anthony Hemingway (True Blood, CSI:NY) tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the historic all-black pilot group during World War II.

The film is said to have a cast that includes some big names, like Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston, Tristan Wilds, Cliff Smith (a.k.a. the rapper Method Man), singer Ne-Yo, and Elijah Kelley.

Of the anticipated film, Lucas commented, “I’ve wanted to do this film for a great many years. So it is especially gratifying to see it all come together. The Tuskegee Airmen were such superb pilots that it was essential for us to create visual effects that would live up to their heroism and put audiences in the cockpit with them. They were only in their early 20s when they performed these amazing feats. They became the best of the best — the top guns.”

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