Will 'Dallas' filmmakers decide to make movie elsewhere?

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
FORT WORTH, Texas -- After four years in development, it looks as if the much-anticipated big-screen version of "Dallas" could finally be ready to roll, as early as this summer.
The only catch: It might just end up rolling in Florida, or Louisiana, or, egad, Canada.
The makers of "Dallas" say that as much as they would prefer to shoot entirely on location in "Big D," they are considering shooting elsewhere. Their reason: Texas just can't compete with other places when it comes to offering financial incentives to lure Hollywood productions to the state.
More than a blow to the city's ego, losing Dallas could also mean losing the multimillion-dollar windfall that a big-budget film would bring to the local economy.
"The studio [20th Century Fox] has been asking us to consider a number of states," says Michael Costigan, who is producing the film along with David Jacobs, the original show's creator. "Honestly, Dallas was never high on the list, because it didn't seem like a feasible, economic place to do the movie."
The film, which was first announced in fall 2002, already has a number of significant elements in place: The screenplay is written by veteran playwright Robert Harling ("Steel Magnolias") and Sacha Gervasi ("The Terminal"); Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde," "Monster-in-Law") is attached to direct. And though casting is still being worked out, John Travolta (as J.R.) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (as Pam) have been rumored to be in negotiations.
The movie is expected to be in the spirit of such recent, slightly tongue-in-cheek TV-to-movie transfers such as "Charlie's Angels" and "The Dukes of Hazzard."