Cuba Gooding Jr. is not new to the subject of the film. He has previously been in Pilotes de choix (1995).
George Lucas began developing Red Tails around 1988 but was unable to secure funding from any major studio, as any he approached believed that producing a film featuring an all black cast would be unmarketable. As a result, Lucas ended up funding the project with his own money, investing $58 million into the production of the film, and a further $35 million towards marketing.
In preparation, George Lucas and his staff interviewed surviving Tuskegee Airmen and were given access to their original mission logbooks.
In an interview with The New York Times, George Lucas stated that the personalities of Easy and Lightning are based on Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, respectively.
This is Terrence Howard's second performance as a Tuskegee Airman, his first was Mission évasion (2002).