GREEN RIVER -- Wyoming's shot at the big screen has saddled up and gone south.

What could have been the first major motion picture to be filmed in the Cowboy State in more than a decade will now most likely be filmed in Texas.

After flirting with Wyoming as a film location for the proposed Western comedy "Back in the Saddle" most of the summer, the film's producers said they probably won't be shooting the film at South Pass City and at other Wyoming locations after all.

"I think we're probably going to end up in Texas ... though things could change," the film's executive producer, Jack Silver, said by phone from Los Angeles.

"We loved the thought of being in Wyoming, and it's really hard (to change locations) from the people standpoint ... but we just found some terrific locations in Texas and everything is just kind of there for us," he said.

"We so appreciate all of the Wyoming interest, which is one big reason we wanted to be there," Silver said about the reception the film's producer's received from the Wyoming Film Office, various officials and people from across the state.

Silver said investor interest, location logistics and weather were all factors for shooting the movie in Texas.

He said producers also found similar locations needed for the script in closer proximity to one another in Texas than the locations considered in Wyoming.

Michelle Howard, film manager for Wyoming Tourism and Travel's state film office, said Silver's production team was unable to find investors in Wyoming to pair with the state's film industry financial incentive program.

She said the producers have found corporate investors in Texas, and those factors -- along with Wyoming's harsh fall weather conditions -- spurred the move to Texas.

"I think it's just getting too late in the year for them to do it here," she said. "Our office wishes to thank all of those involved with trying to secure the filming of this project."

Hollywood moviemaker and producer John Waterman announced this spring that his company, Odd Man Out Productions, wanted to shoot the independent film at locations including South Pass City, around Cheyenne and at Devils Tower.

The Western comedy was written by, and will be directed by, comedian Kevin Farley, brother of the late "Saturday Night Live" star Chris Farley. Silver was brought in as executive producer in June.

"Back in the Saddle" is the story of a train-robbing cowboy who tries to go straight after retiring to the town of Tumbleweed. But rumors of a railroad coming to town bring the hero out of retirement to battle a bevy of bad guys, including an ambitious mayor and crooked sheriff.

The producers had envisioned using South Pass City in Fremont County as the set for the fictional town of Tumbleweed. They also talked about filming at the Terry Bison Ranch, around the Vedauwoo area near Cheyenne and at Laramie's old Territorial Prison.

Waterman and Farley toured southeast Wyoming in May to scout the locations. The pair said they fell in love with the state's majestic mountains and blue skies and said Wyoming would be a perfect place for the film.

In June, the state's tourism board preapproved the film for $150,000 in state incentive program funding to help solidify investment in the project.

Producers said in their application they anticipated spending about $1 million in the state if the film were shot here.

The last major motion picture that featured Wyoming was director Paul Verhoeven's 1997 sci-fi classic "Starship Troopers." Parts of that movie were filmed in Natrona County's Hell's Half Acre.

Howard said the film office will continue to seek film project opportunities, including independent feature films.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com.