From John Wayne to Quentin Tarantino, Wyoming Offers Film Locations

Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz in Quentin Tarantino's, Django Unchained

A great article about WY film locations, courtesy of  KOWB in Laramie. 

In 1968, Casper residents were able to see the scenic bluffs west of their town on the big screen, and standing in front of them was the Duke himself, John Wayne.  The movie was Hellfighters.

In 1977, residents of northeastern Wyoming got to see one of their most telltale landmarks at the movies, after Steven Spielberg filmed his movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind at Devil’s Tower.

In 1988, the city of Rawlins saw its historic frontier penitentiary as the backdrop for the Renny Harlin horror film,Prison, starring Viggo Mortensen.

In 1997 central Wyoming became an on-screen double for another world overrun with alien bugs in the Paul Verhoeven film Starship Troopers.

An oilfield, a national monument, a haunted prison, and an alien world all within the boundaries of the cowboy state.  These four are only a small sample of the various feature films that were filmed, in whole or in part, in Wyoming.

The latest feature film to have shot in the state is the upcoming Christmas release, Django Unchained from film auteur Quentin Tarantino.  The trailer for Django makes it look equal parts western and 70′s style exploitation film.  According to Michell Howard, of the Wyoming Film Office, although part of the film was shot near Jackson Hole, that wasn’t always the plan....

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