I'm not sure how accurate he is -- with all the iterations of Shaft and Superfly, surely some action movie came out of the blaxploitation world with no significant white characters.

But George Lucas says his new movie about the Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails, is the first action movie with an all black cast (I'm thinking, perhaps, it's the first all-black action film made by a major studio).

Lucas quietly explained the dollars and cents of it all to Jon Stewart: Studios look at the only other filmmaker creating all-black movies now, Tyler Perry, judge how much his movies make and then decide if Lucas' film can meet that threshold. They also felt the movie wouldn't make any money outside of the United States.

The Star Wars creator said he spent his own money and 23 years making the film, starting with 40 former airmen helping him; now he's down to seven or so still alive.

See his full, fascinating interview below