Hwy 16 film shoot delayed; no shutdown

Texas Highway 16 near Loving will have to wait for its close up, after a production company canceled plans to film a fiery crash between an oil tanker and a small aircraft for a new TV series about oil.

The County had approved the closure of the highway between Turtle Hole Road and Oliver Lane for six days this week for the filming of an upcoming Paramount Pictures TV series called “Landman.”

The film company’s location manager met with Young County Commissioners on March 5 to request the closure.

The studio was hoping to film a scene in which a small plane and an oil tanker collide, causing an explosion.

The highway was set to be shut down from Wednesday, March 13 through Monday, March 18. Drivers would have been routed around the area.

But Paramount released a statement indicating that the filming would be resecheduled “due to potential weather issues on our scheduled filming days.”

The company said it was working with local authorities on a new filming schedule, and thanked the Graham community.

“Unfortunately, the potential for thunderstorms made landing a King Air onto Highway 16 too risky,” County Judge Win Graham said. “They probably won’t reschedule the shoot until sometime next week. Therefore Highway 16 will remain open all of next week.”

“Landman” is an upcoming TV series created by “Yellowstone” writer-producer Taylor Sheridan and starring Billy Bob Thornton. It is set “in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas and the world of oil rigs,” according to Variety.

The series is based on the “Boomtown” podcast, Variety said.