Hollywood is on fire, literally and figuratively.
Dueling strikes shut the industry down in 2023 and it hasn’t fully bounced back. The pandemic chased viewers to the comfort of their couches, pummeling the theatrical experience. YouTube creators are luring eyeballs away from network TV at a fraction of the price point, as are social media platforms and video games.
There’s no better time for a Hollywood Plan B. Could that involve the Lone Star State?
Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey sure think so.
The “True Detective” alums joined forces for .
Superstar Mark Wahlberg wants to make Las Vegas “Hollywood East.” The “Flight Risk” star hopes to spearhead a $1.8 billion Sony studio in the state to compete with Hollywood.
“I think ultimately that would be the goal. They all used to make movies right there in LA and people don’t do it anymore,” Wahlberg said.
He’ll have some company.
Warner Bros. Discovery also has its eye on Las Vegas. Warner Bros. Studios Nevada, a plan dependent on the state’s tax credit structure, would bring more filmmaking to the state.
So why not Texas?
The state offers endless vistas worthy of a cinematic closeup. Small Town USA? Check! Big, bustling urban centers like Dallas? Covered. Texas’s red-state policies mean cost-of-living issues won’t upend productions, and it’s far less dysfunctional than the Golden State.
And top-tier stars are singing the state’s praises in a very public forum. When a Dennis Quaid, a star for nearly 50 years, suggests a state needs a close-up, people should listen.
Previously, Owen Wilson and Glen Powell joined with McConaughey and Thornton to buoy Texas filmmaking with a similar 2023 video.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+
The infrastructure is in place, too. The state approved a $200 million grant last year, that runs through August, to entice more projects. That got Taylor Sheridan’s attention.
The biggest name in episodic TV chose Texas for both his home and a sprawling real estate enterprise planning to host film and TV productions down the short road. His latest smash, Paramount+’s “Landman,” filmed in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sheridan made a personal pitch for Texas last fall before the state’s Senate Finance Committee.
“We desperately need the employees. I would much, much, much rather hire a Texas local than fly in somebody from another state,” Sheridan said.
Some Texas-based Republicans have split feelings about the Hollywood influx. Newsweek reports several officials recoiled at the thought of Hollywood’s progressive values inundating the state.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller put the brakes on the plan via X. He’s all for Texas-based productions but opposes tax rebates to make it possible.
Hollywood is dying. Productions can’t get out of California fast enough. Texas will benefit without subsidizing the folks that brought us woke, anti-Christian bigotry, socialism, transgenderism, etc.
Hollywood diehards may resist the Texas two-step. Loyalists could prefer to bring production back to La La Land, especially to help those impacted by the wildfires. Others may rebuke red-state values infecting their progressive industry.
Pragmatism may rule the day. If major stars like Quaid, McConaughey and Zellweger want more Texas-based shoots, and the costs aren’t prohibitive, we may be hearing, “Action!” more and more in the Lone Star State.
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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