. >> with all the money that george lucas has made for everybody in this town, nobody wanteded george lucas' project. what does he do? he puts his own mondey into it and gets i done. when you say nobody wanteded this, why would no one in hollywood want a movie about heroes like the tuskegee airman or the harlem hell fighters? >> it came down to the economics of race. it literally came down to the fact that there simply at that point were not enough bankable, what they call bankable african-american stars in hollywood. you know, i actually took a class at ucla with a man who created tv show african-american shows called "tour of duty," steve duncan. he said to all of us, he said if you want to maximize your chances of selling a script, make it a white male. there is just more white males in hollywood than anybody else. and everyone said, no, no, no. it's a period piece that is expensive. advertise world war i, no one cares about that war. and it's starring black people? thank you, no. >> so the book is out. >> the book is out in two weeks. before it came out, i got a call from will smi