Halle Berry in "Tulia"

There is a link to an article below which says that HB's next movie project (in the autumn) will reunite her with Billy Bob Thornton in "Tulia": a movie about the 1999 incident in which a tenth of the Texas town's black population were arrested on dubious drug charges.




Does this mean "Nappily Ever After" is on the back burner again?



ARTICLE BELOW:


Shot in Texas: Louisiana wins Tulia production


Louisiana beats Texas to the shoot
02:43 PM CDT on Friday, August 10, 2007
By JOE O'CONNELL / Special Contributor

The Texas-based film Tulia looks back on track, but don't expect it to be shot in the Lone Star State.

John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) has signed on to direct the long-delayed adaptation of Nate Blakeslee's book Tulia: Race, Cocaine and Corruption about the 1999 incident in which a 10th of the Texas town's black population was jailed on dubious drug charges. Most were later pardoned by Gov. Rick Perry. Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton are set to star when the movie shoots late this fall, probably in Louisiana.

What? Wasn't the new $20 million Texas film incentives program supposed to make sure Texas movies were made here? Not necessarily, says Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission.

"Louisiana is still snagging them," she says. "They're giving away more for big-budget projects. We knew it wouldn't be a cure-all."

Instead expect the immediate future of the North Texas film industry to include lots of commercial shoots, reality shows, a lot of modestly budgeted independent films and perhaps another television series to complement Fox's currently taping Prison Break.

In fact, NBC execs have been placing feeler calls of late, Ms. Burklund says, and Fox folks have also expressed interest in shooting another series hereabouts.

"NBC really likes shooting in Texas," Ms Burklund, says, citing the television movie Saving Jessica Lynch, the pilot for LAX and the Austin-shot series Friday Night Lights as proof. "I know they would love to find another project to bring here."

Some smaller-budgeted feature films have made inquiries about North Texas, but don't expect to see a real impact until the fall, Ms. Burklund says.

"It's everything from less than a million up to $15 million," she says. "Most are in the $2 [million] to $3 million range, which seems to be the spot for this particular incentive."

Meanwhile, commercials remain the industry's bread and butter, with Dallas-based Uproar churning out commercials for Hasbro's Transformers toys and Toby Keith stopping in town to shoot a Ford commercial. And reality shows are flocking to the area, including crews from Ireland and Holland.

But don't think North Texas is ceding the big-budget films to Louisiana or New Mexico, which has gone so far as to put up interest-free loans to cover the budgets of the $7 million sci-fi flick The Burrowers and the $15 million political comedy Swing Vote. There's still the long-delayed big-screen version of television's Dallas on the horizon. The latest projection is that it will shoot in 2008. "Everyone can chill on that a little longer," Ms. Burklund says of the film that became an international rallying cry for the North Texas film industry.